


Hedgehogs, Windwalkers and Wizards

by GalacticDefender4679



Series: Stories of King Sonic [2]
Category: Arthurian Mythology, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Knights - Freeform, Magic, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-26 17:46:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 51,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19010749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticDefender4679/pseuds/GalacticDefender4679
Summary: After a fierce battle with Eggman, Sonic and his team are sent flying across the multiverse to a world where different types of humans, all with different powers and ear-styles... And the team has transformed into them as well! This can only spell disaster.





	1. The Vortex

**Author's Note:**

> Since there are different species in Equestria itself, but in this incarnation, they’re only seen as humans, the artist implies the difference by giving them all different ear-types; earth ponies and associated species have standard human ears, unicorns are elves, Pegasai and associated species have tiny little feathered wings for ears, alicorns have ears slightly longer than unicorns’ and there are little bumps on ‘em, and dragon ears are elf-ish with practically invisible scales.

It was a standard month for Sonic and his Freedom Fighters battling against Eggman’s many attempts to take over the planet Mobius, but while going on a raid of the main compound, Sonic, along with his siblings Sonia and Manic, his adopted brother Tails, his rival Shadow, the bruiser Knuckles, and his time-traveling ally Silver, were starting to notice weird stuff from their vantage point on a nearby cliff.

“Okay, is it just me or is Eggman acting more and more like Hitler?” asked Sonic.

“Whoa, dude!” said Manic.

“What? Just saying,” said Sonic.

“You can’t just run around calling people Nazis, you ass,” said Sonia smacking her brother in the head.

“Ow!” he groaned. “Cmon, look at him.” Then he handed his sister the binoculars and pointed her at the compound. “See that? Hanging banners with his insignia off the building, standing on his balcony like God looking down on us, swapping out his jacket for that prick suit and armband, _also_ with his insignia on it, making his robots march like that, _while also_ wearing armbands with his insignia on them, and I’m fairly certain he’s about to make them stop and yell ‘Heil Führer’ in three, two, one…” At that moment, the robots marching outside the compound stopped and turned to the balcony Eggman was on. Then the mad scientist stuck his hand up like the tyrannical Nazi leader himself.

“Heil Führer!” he yelled.

“Heil Führer!” saluted the robots before they went back to marching. Sonic looked at his team with a smirk on his face.

“Okay, point taken,” said Sonia.

“Thank you,” said Sonic. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“Well, as far as I see it, we have three options;” said Shadow, looking at the situation through the scope on his sniper rifle. “1; I snipe him here and now and let the robots kill each other trying to elect a new Führer, 2; we run in there and trash the place with our blades…” It was true; the team all had large bladed weapons; Sonic had his broadsword Caliburn, Shadow had his ddraig goch sword Arondight, Knuckles had his twin spiked axes Galatine, Silver had his cyan spearhead-style dagger Sang-Real, Tails had his curved dagger Sting, and Sonia and Manic each had a sword that was nearly identical to the other named Narsil and Anduril respectively.

“That one has some real potential,” said Sonic.

“Yeah, I think I like that one,” said Knuckles.

“What about option three?” asked Tails. Shadow smiled.

“We let loose the Jupiters,” he said.

“You wanna nuke this place?” asked Manic.

“Why not? It’d be the fastest way to get rid of Eggman, and it would just be really satisfying to watch,” said Shadow.

“By which you mean you would get off on it,” said Sonic. Sonia gasped and looked at him.

“Oh, my God! You get off on watching people get nuked?” she asked.

“No, not people!” said Shadow. “I get off on watching the mushroom clouds- that doesn’t sound any better.”

“No, no it does not,” said Tails. “Okay, that single statement disqualifies the nukes, so I guess that leaves us with two options. Either 1; Shadow takes the shot, or 2; we go on a bladed rampage. Who’s for 2?” Literally everyone there drew their blades and smirked. Tails smirked along with them and pulled Sting. “I was hoping you would say that.”

Sonic pointed Caliburn in front of him and the others did the same, touching sword-points. “Lady and gentlemen, before we do this, I’d like you to know it’s been an honor fighting with all of you and being able to call you my friends,” he said. “You pledged your allegiance to the cause of the Freedom Fighters, and to the Order of the Sacred Swords, to fight with all your hearts until the day you die. If that day is today, let’s make it worthwhile and end this war with Eggman.” Then he raised his sword to the sky. “For the Planet and its people!”

The others all followed suit. “For the Planet and its people!” they yelled.

“Now let’s go cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war,” said Sonic like a badass. Then Shadow fished a flare gun out of his bag and shot it into the air as they charged, grabbing simple blank shields as they hadn’t had the time to place logos on them.

“RAMPAAAGE!!!” yelled Shadow as they slashed their way through robots left and right.

“Intruders!” growled Eggman. “All robots! Move up and defend your master while I prepare the device!” Then a larger army of robots moved out to partake in the battle.

“Device? What is he talking about?” asked Tails as they kept fighting.

“No idea! Must be what he stole the Chaos Emeralds for!” said Silver, using Sang-Real’s power to configure itself into literally any bladed weapon one could think of. As of now, Silver was switching between sword and spear.

“Either way, we need to get those emeralds out of his hands and get him to Prison Island!” said Sonic. “Maybe then we can nuke the place.”

“Fine! Emeralds first, then Jupiters!” said Tails, stabbing from above. “Sound good, Shadow?”

“Waiting on the cue to push the freaking button!” yelled Shadow as he danced around the robots with a backhanded grip on his sword. Then Eggman flew out in his larger prototype hovercraft as a large metal door in the ground nearby opened.

“I’m afraid you won’t have the chance for either, mien freunds!” he said, gaining more and more of a German accent. “As where you’re going, I can only assume nuclear weapon technology doesn’t even exist. Because with this…” Then he pressed a button and spires with the Chaos Emeralds appeared around the large ring in the ground. “I will send you to another world, where you’ll be out of my hair! And I’ll finally be able to conquer this pathetic planet!”

“Wait a sec, doc! Scroll back!” said Manic, shish-kebabbing three robots at once. “You mean you don’t even know where you’re sending us with this thing?”

“How could I? I only just cobbled it together over the last week from scrapped warp rings and guesswork,” said Eggman. “Now then, I believe this is the part where we say ‘Auf Wiedersehen” for the last time, my annoying friends!” Then he pressed another button and energy from the Chaos Emeralds shot into the middle of the ring and opened a large rift, creating strong pulling winds.

“See? Now, he’s speaking German!” said Sonic. “I told you he was a Nazi!”

“I’m not a Nazi!” yelled Eggman.

“You’re not involved in this conversation anymore, Eggman!” yelled Shadow.

“I’m feeling pretty involved seeing as how I’m the one who’s about to banish you to another dimension!” yelled the doctor. “And for the last time, I’m not a Nazi!”

“You’re the bad guy, the Nazis were the bad guys,” said Knuckles. “Sounds pretty straightforward.”

“The Nazis weren’t the bad guys!” yelled Orbot, sticking his head up out of the hovercraft.

“It’s a matter of perspective really,” said Cubot.

“Our perspective?” asked Sonia, slashing more bots.

“Y’know what? I’m going to be even more glad to be without you than I thought I would be,” said Eggman as he sat down in his hovercraft’s large chair. The team quickly tried stabbing their weapons into the ground, but it wouldn’t hold up long.

“Shadow, quick!” yelled Sonic. “Once we pass through that portal, the dead man's switch isn’t going to work! You have to launch the Jupiters now! Press the button!”

“Yes sir!” said Shadow happily as he pulled the launch button out of his bag and slammed his thumb down on it, launching the missile.

“What about us?” asked Knuckles. “Once that missile hits, we’ll be vaporized!”

“Our only chance is to go through the wormhole!” yelled Tails. “Once through there, we should be safe from the radiation!”

“Might as well!” yelled Sonic. “Go for broke!” Quickly, everyone pulled their swords out of the ground and flew toward the vortex. “Oh and while we’re at it, grab the Chaos Emeralds!” Quickly, Shadow pulled a grappling gun and fired it, before the hook split into eight lengths of cable, seven of which attached to the Emeralds and the last of which snapped onto Eggman’s hovercraft, pulling them all into the vortex.

“What?! What are you doing?!” asked Eggman.

“If wherever we’re going doesn’t have nuclear missile tech, I doubt it’ll have robotics tech!” yelled Shadow. “Quick! Everyone, take an Emerald!” Quickly, they did so just before the vortex behind them closed and they were sent tumbling around before they were all split up in the wormhole.

“Round and round and round she goes,” said Sonic as he spun around. “Where she stops, nobody knows!” Then his muzzle started turning green. “Oh God, I’m gonna hurl!” Then he screamed out of pain as he felt his bones and flesh growing longer, and his muzzle growing smaller. Eventually, he flew out of the wormhole falling toward the ground. He managed to get a chance to look himself over as he fell. Somehow, he had become human. He had tan skin, bright blue pants and jacket, and blue hair. Then he checked his ears and was surprised to see they were actually small blue feathered wings.

“Okay, this is getting weird,” he said as he kept falling. Then he saw a large castle that looked to be made of crystal and grown from a tree on the ground. And he was headed right for some sort of plate-glass skylight. “Ugh! Just my luck!” He moved to hold up his shield but was terrified to see he didn’t have it on his arm. “Ohhh CRAAAAP!” Then he faceplanted into a cloud, which he stayed on. He stuck his head up and looked around. “What the-? Okay, what’s going on here?”

“I’m unsure, Sonic,” said Caliburn. “Perhaps it has something to do with this new transformation.”

“Sounds pretty likely,” said Sonic. “But do I still have all my other powers?” He quickly jumped off the cloud and used his homing attack to shoot to another one, away from the castle before he jumped off again and moved for a stomp move to shoot him down to the ground. Once he landed, he smirked. “Oh yeah, still got my powers.” Then he saw the doors to the castle opening. “And something tells me I’m gonna need them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI, Sang-Real (French for "Royal Blood" [and "Holy Grail" when not separated] for those of you who haven't seen "The DaVinci Code") is my idea of what Sir Galahad's sword would be named.


	2. Royal Angel

Sonic quickly hid in the trees and watched as a young boy with green hair over short elf-like ears wearing a purple coat and a purple scale-like belt over a green shirt came out of the castle and looked around. Sonic moved for Caliburn with a scowl on his face.

“Sonic, what are you doing?” asked Caliburn. “It’s a boy.”

“Because, Caliburn, worst-case-scenario: We’re on a different version of Earth where science and magic are intertwined in the middle of the Cold War, in a town in Russia, and that guy is a Russian citizen ready to report me to the Kremlin the second he sees us,” said Sonic. “And I look pretty damn American, so if I go there, I’ll be hanging by my Achilles tendons in some sort of KGB torture dungeon until either I die, or the guys show up and break me out.”

“And what’s the best-case scenario?” asked Caliburn. Sonic paused for a moment.

“Y’know, I didn’t actually think about that,” said Sonic. Then they heard a voice.

“Spike? Is anyone out there?” it asked in a feminine tone. The boy looked into the castle.

“Can’t tell yet,” he said and sniffed. “Wait. I think I got something. It’s coming from the forest.” Then he jogged in near Sonic just in time for him to step out and start to draw his sword.

“Okay pal, that’s close enough,” he said. “Show me your hands.” Then he saw the boy’s green eyes were slited like a lizard’s, and his skin was coated in practically invisible scales. “Or claws, I guess, or- Wait, which do you prefer?”

“Spike, what’s going on?” said the voice from earlier. Sonic looked and saw a young woman with deep indigo hair streaked with purple and rose, purple eyes and long elf-like ears flying nearby on ethereal wings. She was wearing a fairly casual-seeming lavender outfit with a six-pointed rose star on her skirt surrounded by six smaller white stars, and on her head was a small tiara with a pink gem shaped like a six-pointed star. One look at her and Sonic’s grip on his sword loosened and the blade slipped back into its scabbard.

“Uh Caliburn, I just came up with that best-case-scenario,” he said.

“What is it?” asked Caliburn.

“Someone left the gates of Heaven open because I think there’s an angel loose,” said Sonic, turning up the collar of his jacket and stroking his hair back on his skull. The woman blushed as she touched down on the ground and let her wings disappear from behind her back.

“Oh well, thank you,” she said. “You don’t look familiar. You’re new to town, aren’t you?”

“Well, technically speaking yes,” said Sonic. “But actually speaking, I’m not even from this universe.”

“You’re from another universe? So then, the multiverse theory is-” she said.

“True? Oh yeah, absolutely,” said Sonic. “Now then, how about some introductions?”

“Oh, of course,” said the woman and put her hand on the young boy’s shoulder. “This is my assistant, Spike of the Dragonborn.”

“Dragonborn?” asked Sonic. “Is that why you’re all…?”

“Scaly? Yep,” said Spike. “I even hatched from an egg.”

“Wow. I gotta figure out how this universe works and fast,” said Sonic. “And you are…?”

“I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said and gave a small curtsy. “Princess of Friendship.”

“Ah well, nice to see I’m not the only royalty in this town,” said Sonic.

“Oh, you’re a prince?” asked Twilight.

“And a general, and a king,” said Sonic. “It gets confusing, but just bear with me.” Then he drew Caliburn and stabbed him into the ground before kneeling. “Prince Sonic Maurice Pendragon; Crown prince of planet Mobius, king of the empire of Camelot, top-ranking general of the United Mobian Army, and leader of the Orders of the Round Table and the Sacred Swords, and my trusted blade Caliburn, better known as Excalibur, at your service.” He then stood up, spun Caliburn on his hand and slid him into the scabbard on his hip before bowing casually.

“Wow,” said Twilight. “Those are some pretty impressive titles.”

“Damn straight,” said Sonic. “So, really quick, have you seen any other guys that look anything like me with some huge swords on them in town?”

“Not recently,” said Twilight. “But then again, I need to head into town anyway. I have to run some errands, and then my friends and I agreed to meet in the park today to hang out. And if I found you here, then I can only assume-”

“That if my guys haven’t met up with your friends already, they might soon,” said Sonic. “I like how you think. Alright then, let’s walk and talk, you can fill me in on how this universe works.” The three quickly left the castle and headed into town, leaving Sonic to wonder where his friends were.


	3. The Farm

Knuckles had exited the wormhole in a large expanse of apple trees with overgrown pathways all over. He had transformed as well, into an incredibly jacked man in red pants and an open vest, with normal human ears and his twin axes strapped to his back.

“Hmm…” he said and sniffed. “Smoke. Means cooking. Civilization.” Quickly, he started jogging through the trees until he heard something nearby. Quickly, he stopped, ripped Galatine off his back and swung them into place.

“Hear something?” the blade asked.

“Yeah,” he whispered back. “I think someone might be tailing us.” Then he saw a large mass of red eye-shaped lights in the dark of the thick of the trees. “Okay, that’s a bad sign.” Then a swarm of bats flew out at him, making him shriek and combine the blades into a sort-of shield and block them.

“Are you seriously hiding right now?” asked Galatine.

“Yes! I hate bats! You know this!” said Knuckles. Then he found the bats were pushing him back extremely well. “Okay, how and why are these things so insanely strong?”

“I don’t know,” said Galatine. “Maybe we should worry about what they’re gonna do to you once your arms give.”

“I think we might be a little late for that,” said Knuckles as he felt his arms weakening. Then he looked the bats over and recognized them. “Also relax, these are just fruit bats.” Then he moved his axes and felt the bats’ claws all over his body. “AHH! Apparently very angry fruit bats! What is their goddamn deal?!” At this point, he decided he didn’t even care and just started running. Finally, he ran out of the apple tree grove and allowed the bats to fly away over him. He looked himself over and saw he was literally coated in claw-marks, some of which were bleeding.

“You okay, partner?” said a voice nearby. Knuckles looked and saw a young human woman with tan skin, apple-green eyes, and straw-blonde hair held in a ponytail with a red hair-tie under a brown Stetson hat, wearing an orange flannel shirt, denim jeans and brown leather cowboy boots with red apple patches on either.

“No. Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said. “I’ve got powers. I can recover from anything. What was that?”

“Fruit bats in the West Orchard,” said the girl. “They can be a mite territorial. You sure you’re okay?” Her question was instantly answered when the scratch-marks on Knuckles’ body sealed themselves as he got up and swung Galatine back onto his back.

“That answer your question?” he asked.

“Yep,” she said. “Never seen anyone heal that fast before.” Then she looked him over. “Though now that I think about it, I’ve never seen you around town before either. You new?”

“You could say that,” said Knuckles. “The name’s Gawain. Knuckles Gawain, Guardian of the Master Emerald and member of the Order of the Sacred Swords, wielder of the twin blades Galatine. And you are?”

“Well, I ain’t got any fancy titles like that, but I do got a name,” she said, grabbing Knuckles’ hand in a strong grip. Of course, not as strong as his. “Applejack. Nice to meetcha.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” he said. “So, you seen anyone else with a sword like these guys?”

“Nope,” she said. “Course, I’m plannin’ on headin’ into town to meet some friends after Ah finish mah chores. Mind givin’ me a hand?”

“What, you mean pick these trees clean and stuff?” asked Knuckles. “Piece of cake.” And with his strength, it really was. Soon, the whole farm was running better than ever and Applejack was free to leave.

“Hoo-wee! Thanks again for the help, Knux,” she said. “Mind if I call ya Knux?”

“Why not? Rest of the Order does,” he said, running his thumb near Galatine’s edge.

“Yeah, what’s yer deal? Are ya like the Army or…?” asked Applejack as they started walking away.

“It’s a long story,” said Knuckles. “Short version; Everyone in the order wields these Sacred Swords; magic weapons forged and enchanted by a great wizard, and we use them to protect the innocent. And Shadow always tries to make them pay for our services, but our leader Sonic talks him out of it.”

“So you’re basically no-pay mercs?” asked Applejack.

“Not if Shadow has anything to say about it,” Knuckles smirked. “If literally everyone besides him weren’t such close friends with Sonic, he’d set up a mutiny in two seconds.”

“Must be hard workin’ with him,” said Applejack. “Reminds me of a certain Windwalker.”

“Windwalker?” asked Knuckles confused.

“I’ve got a lot to catch you up on,” said Applejack as she lead him through town.


	4. Power of the Mind

Silver had nearly fallen through the roof of a small building in the town when he used his powers to save himself. He had become an elf-like being with pointed ears and a small amount of burn-scarring on his neck, almost as a reminder of the flaming hell Iblis turned his time into. He also wore a white coat with a fur collar and gray jeans with Sang-Real in a small scabbard strapped to his right leg. He hovered down to the building and looked around.

“Something about this doesn’t feel right,” he said. “What is up with this universe?”

“I’m not sure, Silver,” said Sang-Real. “It seems like we’ve been sent back to the medieval period.”

“Yeah, but there are some other unusual feels to it,” said Silver, looking around. Then he decided to check out the building and looked in through the window. It appeared to be some sort of clothing store, judging from the clothes in the window display, but in the back of the building, he could see a lovely young woman trying on a white dress and light blue jacket with a sort of diamond design on the back. She had long curly purple hair, flawless skin, and judging from her reflection in the mirror, she had bright blue eye, shining like sapphires.

He couldn’t help but give a low whistle at seeing her, but apparently, elves had better hearing than Silver thought as she flinched and moved to look at him, but he quickly slipped out of the way of the window.

“Is someone there?” she asked and moved to the door. Silver decided to make it look normal and stood at the door when she opened.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” he said. “Mind if I come in?”

“Oh, not at all,” she said, letting him in. “I was just about to close up early. My friends and I are going to meet up in the park today, but I always have time for a customer.” Then she saw Chastiefol on his leg. “You aren’t here to try and rob me, are you?”

“Huh?” he asked before he saw his knife. “Oh, this? No-no-no-no, I’m no thief. I’m a knight actually.”

“Really? The Royal Guard has a base out this far?” the woman asked. “I wasn’t informed. Though given everything this town has gone through in the past, I suppose it was only a matter of time.”

“I don’t fight for any guard,” said Silver, drawing his blade and letting it extend into a broadsword. “I work with an independent order. The Order of the Sacred Swords. Sang-Real here is one such blade. Allow me to introduce myself.” Then he gently stuck the point of the sword into the floor and bowed. “I am Sir Silver DeLorean Galahad, Knight of the Order. And you are?”

“Rarity,” she said simply, extending her hand. Silver took it gently into his hand and kissed it like the gentleman he was trained to be, making her blush madly.

“Enchanté,” he said standing up before he shortened and sheathed his blade. “So you said you were going to meet some friends?”

“Y- Yes,” said Rarity, recovering. “If I’m right, most of them should be heading for the park now.”

“Well hopefully, the rest of the Order has met with them and is on their way there too,” said Silver, fluffing his coat’s fur collar. “Perhaps if I accompany you, I can meet back up with them and discuss how to get home.”

“I imagined you weren’t from around here,” said Rarity as the two left the boutique. “Not to sound elitist, or degrading to Ponyville, but not many around here have the manners you do.”

“Well, I can’t help it,” said Silver. “I was raised like that. Now then, shall we?”

“Indeed. Let’s,” said Rarity as she led him down to the park, letting him ponder her beauty and how he and the others had arrived here in the first place. And of course, the bigger question; was Eggman here as well?


	5. Maid of the Animals

Tails had landed out in the forest near town, face-first in a thicket of trees, getting his tails tangled in vines and branches a foot or two off the ground. He had turned human as well, with normal ears, but still maintained his tails and fur-frills on the sides of his face. He had also been given an orange jacket and pants over a white medieval shirt with a string at the collar. He also had a blacksmith’s apron in a brown leather backpack and hammer strapped to his right hip, and Sting’s scabbard strapped to his other hip. His sword, however, had fallen from the scabbard and embedded himself in the mud below the wise knight.

“Well, this is a fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into, isn’t it young master?” asked Sting.

“Yes, it is, Sting,” said Tails. “Yes, it is. Thankfully, I think we can get out of here. With a little help from one of my newest inventions.” Then he strapped a small bracelet to his forearm and flicked his wrist, sending a hook and cable out straight at his sword’s handle, pulling it back into his hand, allowing him to cut himself free and land. “You okay, partner?”

“Fine, Sir Bedivere,” said the blade. “My blade feels only a bit dirty.”

“Good. Now let’s go find the others,” said Tails as he sheathed his blade and plodded through the forest. Eventually, he came upon an old dirt path that just seemed to appear out of nowhere. He decided to approach with caution as he was unsure who had left the path for him. Eventually, he came upon a small cottage that appeared to have grown from the forests with a small brook flowing in front of it.

Then he heard the melodious sound of a woman singing in the front yard. It sounded almost like an angel, so Tails lowered his guard and approached. Turning a corner around the back of the building, he saw a young woman with pale pink hair, moderate cyan eyes and feathered-wing ears colored the same bright yellow as her shirt, which was covering a surprisingly sized chest. She was also wearing a green skirt and white sandals, and when she spun herself into a jump, Tails was shocked to see a pair of ethereal insect-like wings form behind her back and let her soar through the trees before she landed near the bridge over the brook and they disappeared.

“Whoa. This world is insane,” he whispered to Sting. Unfortunately, the girl heard him and quickly hid behind a bush.

“Wh- Who-who’s there?” she stuttered in fear. Tails realized she might have been intimidated by his sudden arrival, so he remembered her song saying it was morning, then he carefully slipped away from the house and waved.

“Good morning,” he said. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I was just looking for a town.” The woman looked like she was about to answer, but then she saw Sting on his hip and moved back down. He noticed and quickly planned to reason with her. “I can assure you I’m not a raider or anything like that. Just a knight looking for the rest of his order. I mean you no harm.” The woman walked slowly out from behind the bush, still unsure if she should trust him. “Look, just let me introduce myself.” Then he took a knee. “I am Sir Miles Bedivere Prower of the Order of the Sacred Swords; an order dedicated to protecting the innocent, and wielder of the Blade of Warning, Sting.” Then he stood up. “Though my friends usually just call me Tails, because of these.” Then he bristled his twin fox-tails, catching the girl’s eye. “And you are?”

“I’m…” she said quietly, whispering her name. Thankfully, Tails’ sharp hearing helped him make out her name.

“Fluttershy, huh?” he asked. “Well, no offense but the name speaks volumes about you. The shy part at least. Flutter? Heh. I saw you glide like that. That was beautiful.” That comment alone made her blush bright red.

“Oh well… Thank you,” she said. “So, you said you were looking for your friends?”

“The rest of the Order, yeah,” said Tails, pulling out a set of binoculars and looking down the path to the cottage. “And if I’m right, they’ll all be either heading to or already in that town over there. So if you will excuse me, I’ll be on my way.” He was just walking down the path when Fluttershy flew above him.

“Would you mind if I go with you?” she asked. “I was going to meet my friends at the park today anyway.”

“Sounds fine with me,” said Tails. “And with luck, I’ll run into the guys along the way.” With that, the two wandered through the forest out to a small hill overlooking the town ahead. “Which way to the park?”

“It should be somewhere over there,” said Fluttershy, pointing to the eastern side of town.

“Okay then, let’s go,” he said and the two quickly flew toward the park.


	6. Party Animal

Manic and Sonia had de-spaced in the air and saw that they had also transformed, into wing-eared humanoids like Sonic, but dressed differently. Sonia still had her usual outfit, but Manic had a green jacket under his orange vest and green jeans under his fanny-pack, and both of them had their swords strapped to their left hips. Unfortunately, that was all they had managed to see of each other before they crashed into the ground and were knocked unconscious on impact.

When Manic finally managed to rouse himself from his unconsciousness, he was suddenly greeted by a rather attentive pair of large bright blue eyes right in his face. His eyes quickly shot open when he saw them and saw they belonged to a young woman with brilliant raspberry hair puffed out like cotton candy wearing all pink with three balloon patches on her skirt.

“Wake up, lazy-butt!” she said happily. Manic just screamed and slid back, knocking into Sonia waking her up too. The girl quickly screamed back, prompting Sonia to scream, which in turn prompted the woman to scream right in their faces extremely loud, which caused Manic’s ears to start ringing.

“Were we having a screaming contest?” she asked. “Did I win? I bet I won because my friends always say I’m really loud!”

“Yeah, I can see that,” said Manic, his ears still ringing. “Mawp. Mawp. Mawp!”

“Ooh, what are you doing?” the woman asked. “It looks funny. I’m gonna do it too.”

“Please don’t, this is actually kinda serious,” said Sonia. “He’s a soldier, so he has to deal with a lot of explosions.”

“Yeah, it’s gotten to the point where I actually have like minor tinnitus now,” said Manic.

“Seriously?” asked the girl.

“Yeah, I mean it’s not to the point where I have to sleep with a fan on or anything, but still, it’s kinda like-” said Manic before he gave a high-pitched squealing sound. “It gets annoying.”

“Huh. That’s one of the first things people say about me when they first get to town,” said the girl.

“Can’t imagine why they’d think that,” said Sonia, rolling her eyes. “Oh, by the way, happy Opposite Day.”

“That’s today?” asked the girl, surprised.

“Nah, she just says stuff like that to annoy people,” said Manic. “It’s part of her charm.”

“So is that why you’re dating her?” asked the girl.

“What? Ew! No! She’s my sister!” said Manic.

“Oh. Ew, gross, sorry,” said the girl.

“I mean, no offense Sonia,” said Manic. “I mean you’re hot and all that, but God damn.”

“It’s okay Manic, I got the picture,” said Sonia.

“Sonia and Manic? Are those your names?” asked the girl.

“Yep. Manic Tristan and Sonia Igraine Pendragon,” said the green-haired man. “Prince and princess of one of the biggest empires back home, and so good with blades, our brother Crown Prince Sonic brought us into his order of the Sacred Swords; our weapons being the Twin Blades Narsil and Arundel over here.” He then picked up Narsil and threw Arundel to Sonia who caught her and strapped the sword to her hip, as Manic did with his blade. “So who exactly are you supposed to be?”

“Oh, that’s right, I didn’t introduce myself,” she said, grabbing both their hands and shaking them vigorously. “I’m Pinkie Pie. So nice to meet you. Are you going to be staying long?” she asked as she let both their hands go.

“As long as it takes to both find the others, and to fix the obvious nerve damage in my arm,” said Manic.

“Yeah, I can’t feel anything in this arm anymore,” said Sonia. “Wait. There it is. Ow……”

“Hurrrrgh, boy I’m gonna feel that tomorrow,” said Manic, feeling coming back to his arm too. “Anyways, appreciate the hospitality Pinkie Pie, but if you’ll excuse us, we need to find the rest of the Order before Sonic gets them into any trouble.”

“Ooh! Can I come with you? My friends and I are meeting in the park and we might find them along the way,” said Pinkie hopeful.

“She’s not wrong,” said Sonia. “Odds are we will find them eventually.”

“Alright, but just try not to get in our way too much,” said Manic as the three marched off through town.


	7. House in the Sky

Shadow had managed to land on a cloud overlooking the town before hitting the ground. He was a humanoid with elf-like ears and a scar on his chest stretching up to his neck shaped like the Black Arms symbol. He was wearing a long black coat with a white fur collar and the G.U.N. insignia on his back, a red shirt and black jeans with Arondight strapped to his hip in a place he could easily flip it from a forehanded to a backhanded grip.

Upon arriving on the cloud, he managed to spot a large house-like structure made out of clouds not far away, a short distance outside town. Quickly using his rocket boots to fly over to investigate, he landed just on the edge of the cloud-house’s property lines before he heard something. He looked over his shoulder, but he didn’t see anything.

“Something, Shadow?” asked Arondight.

“Maybe,” said Shadow. “Keep your eyes open.” He slowly walked up to the house’s door and was just about to knock when he heard something again.

“Block, seven o’clock high!” yelled Arondight. Shadow quickly drew the blade and held it at the angle he was warned about, blocking a punch from a young woman with the flat of the blade. She had moderate cerise eyes, was wearing a pale cerulean jacket with jean-shorts and red sneakers, but the thing that stuck out most to Shadow was that her hair was rainbow-colored, not to mention the blue ethereal wings on her ankles.

“What do you think you’re doing in my Cloudominium?” she asked seriously. Which prompted Shadow to chuckle a bit, not even loosening the grip on his sword.

“Is that seriously what you call this place?” he asked.

“Hey, talk to the guy that sold me the place, not me,” she said landing, allowing her wings to disappear. “Seriously though, how can you be walking on clouds? Only Windwalkers can do that.”

“It’s these rigs on my boots,” said Shadow, sheathing his sword. “My friend built them for me. Now then, let’s try to avoid these sorts of interactions in the future by having you tell me your name.”

“What, you mean you haven’t heard of me?” she asked. “I’m Rainbow Dash.”

“I’m from another universe,” said Shadow. “One where you obviously don’t exist. I could scour the planet for you, and I’d turn up empty.”

“Whoa,” said Rainbow. “Laying it on kinda thick there, aren’t you?”

“I’ve never been one to blunt the truth,” said Shadow. “Or my blade.”

“And I thank you for it,” said Arondight.

“Did your sword just talk?” asked Rainbow, genuinely shocked.

“Long story,” said Shadow. “Short version; he’s magic. Now then, my introduction. I am Shadow Lancelot Robotnik. The Ultimate Lifeform, and Knight of the Order of the Sacred Swords.”

**Some of you may be tempted to yell at me for giving Shadow the last name of his mortal enemy, but you must remember that in my canon, Shadow was created with part of Maria’s DNA, so it technically still counts. Also, he and Eggman may be cousins by that logic, but Shadow has renounced him as his family, so he can’t associate with him even if he wanted to. Now stop yelling at your screen and pay attention.**

“Whoa,” said Rainbow. “Man, now I feel kinda insignificant.” Then she smirked. “Is what I would be saying if I weren’t the fastest flyer in Equestria.”

“You’d be tempted to think that, but I could easily beat you in a race,” said Shadow.

“Oh yeah? How about you put your money where your mouth is?” asked Rainbow. “I’m due to meet my friends at the park in a while, so I’ll race you there. First one to reach it wins.”

“You’re on,” said Shadow. “And as a warning, you will lose.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Rainbow. “1-2-3-go!” And before she could go anywhere, Shadow jumped off the cloud and fired his rocket boots, flying miles ahead in one boost just before she quickly caught up. Shadow was still in the lead, but she would not forfeit.


	8. Meet-Up

Soon, Sonic, Twilight, and Spike ended up at the town park to find they were the first ones there. But eventually, Sonic smelled an almost unmistakably familiar scent.

“I know you’re there, Knuckles,” he said. Knuckles smirked as he walked out from behind a tree nearby and walked up to Sonic.

“Glad to see you’re still alive, Blue,” said Knuckles.

“Dang man, you are jacked,” said Sonic, looking him over.

“Yeah, nice to see this dimension makes me out as the strong guy I am,” he said, flexing a bit.

“Say what now?” asked Applejack as she walked up with him.

“Long story, I’ll explain later,” said Knuckles. “Uh Sonic, this is Applejack. AJ-you mind if I call you AJ?” She shook her head, meaning she didn’t mind. “Okay cool. Anyway, AJ, this is Sonic.”

“Sup?” he said. Just then, Silver and Rarity walked into the park.

“Look, even if TV isn’t a thing in this universe yet, I’m just saying you would be perfect for one of those makeup or design shows,” said Silver.

“While I admire the compliment, and take your word for it and all that, I’m certain this invention doesn’t exist,” said Rarity.

“Though it would be very easy to rectify that matter,” said Sonic. Rarity looked and saw the group.

“Ah, I assume you’re Silver’s associates?” she asked.

“While you are correct, you really shouldn’t assume,” said Knuckles. “You do, you make us all out to be asses.”

“This is true,” said Sonic in a weird Russian-like accent.

“Thank you for the tip, but still, which one of you is Sonic?” asked Rarity. Sonic quickly zipped up in front of her, creating a rather large gust of wind, blowing over her.

“Who do you think?” he smirked.

“It’s okay to assume with this guy, he’s already an ass,” Silver whispered to her.

“Yeah, thanks for that, ya prick,” said Sonic.

“He’s not actually wrong, Faker,” said a painfully familiar voice. Sonic looked up to the sky and saw Shadow swoop down and pull a superhero landing from the air.

“Nice to see you too, Shadow,” said Sonic. “Man, nice duds.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I honestly think I could’ve been better with something shorter, but I can work with it.” Just then, Rainbow flew in looking exhausted. “You lose.”

“Only just,” she said, landing and falling onto her back in tiredness. “AJ, cider please.”

“Ice cold,” she said and threw a bottle over to her, which she quickly guzzled down and got back up refreshed.

“Whoo! Thanks,” she said. Then Tails and Fluttershy flew in, with Sonic’s eyes going wide at the sight of her.

“Hey guys,” said Tails. “Glad you’re all still okay.”

“Uh, Tails? Can we talk mano-a-mano for a second?” asked Sonic. He quickly pulled Tails over behind a tree. “Dude, you just scored major points with that girl. You have made quite the catch.”

“It’s not like that, man,” he said. “Her name’s Fluttershy, and trust me, the name speaks for itself.”

“Ugh. Damn it,” said Sonic. “Why is it that the shy girls are the ones with the biggest chests?”

“That’s not entirely true,” said Tails. “I mean look at Rouge.”

“That’s not true either,” said Shadow, who had slinked up earlier. “Her chest wasn’t always that huge. Most of it is genetic tampering by Tower’s scientists to make her more persuasive in interrogations.”

“And by ‘Persuasive’, you obviously mean-” started Sonic.

“Voluptuous, yeah,” said Shadow.

“Well, I’d say it worked,” said Manic as he, Sonia and Pinkie walked up.

“Bro! Sis! Glad you made it,” said Sonic and hugged them. Then they all went back to the picnic area the girls had set up. After going around for introductions, Sonic started thinking.

“Odds are your leader will want to speak with us,” he said. “I doubt he’ll be kind to unannounced interlopers on his land.”

“Her land, actually,” said Twilight. “And you obviously don’t know my old teacher.”

“Teacher?” asked Sonic, incredulously.

“Your nation’s queen taught you at school?” asked Shadow. “I’m impressed.”

“She’s just a princess, dude,” said Rainbow. “But yeah, she can be pretty impressive.”

“Wait, why just princess and not queen?” asked Knuckles.

“You know, I don’t know that myself,” said Twilight. “Guess we’ll have to ask her when we see her.” Just then, Spike burped out a burst of green fire and a scroll shot out into Manic’s face.

“Hey!” he said and unrolled it, but then his face fell. “I cannot read this.”

“Seriously?” asked Sonia, looking at it. “Whew! Yeah, I mean that looks like English, but I can barely make it out.”

“Well, she _is_ the ruler of Equestria and responsible for raising and lowering the sun every day, so I suppose we can forgive a bit of sloppiness,” said Twilight as she took it. “Whoa! Though this is more than just a bit. Sheesh, what is up with this?”

“She probably sensed our arrival and got too excited to hold a pen straight,” said Tails. “What’s it say?”

“She wants us to meet her in Canterlot Castle ASAP,” said Twilight. “We’ll have to take the train.”

“Why bother? Shadow can get us there in half a second,” said Sonic. “The emerald?”

“Right here,” said Shadow as he pulled the green Chaos Emerald out of his coat pocket.

“Oh my heavens, that stone is divine!” said Rarity, but Silver held her back with his powers.

“Ah-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut,” he said. “You don’t wanna turn that thing into jewelry. Unless you want someone walking around with the power of the cosmos hanging from their neck.”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight.

“This is one of those Chaos Emeralds we were just telling you about,” said Sonic. “Each of the seven, all of which we have, contain the power of the cosmos. And when concentrated enough, the power of a single one can teleport a group as large as this one from where they first stood, to anywhere in the world.”

“In this case, this castle you were talking about,” said Shadow, looking to the cliff. “Which I assume is in that city on the cliff.”

“Yeah, it is, but are ya sure you can get us there in one piece with that little rock?” asked Applejack.

“Get you there? Yes,” said Shadow. “Get you there _and_ keep your lunch down? Remains to be seen.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Spike.

“Let’s just say the teleportation can be a bit nauseating for first-timers,” said Sonic.

“Are you sure we can’t just take the train?” asked Fluttershy.

“Too late,” said Sonic. “Shadow?”

“Chaos CONTROL!” he yelled and teleported the whole group up to the city, turning all the girls a bit green.

“Ugh. Okay, that was weird,” said Twilight.

“You okay, newbies?” asked Knuckles, chuckling.

“Ugh. Did not like,” said Rainbow, holding her stomach.

“Yeah well, suck it up and let’s get going,” said Shadow, putting away the emerald.

“Ugh. I can see why you don’t get along with him very well,” said Rarity.

“Nah, he’s alright, just takes some getting used to is all,” said Silver.

“Hoo,” said Twilight getting up. “Okay, I’m good. Yeah, let’s go.” And with that, the group walked off into town to the castle.


	9. The Order

The walk to the castle was a long one, with Sonic and his men attracting a lot of sideways glances from the citizens.

“What are they lookin’ at?” asked Knuckles, honestly irritated.

“Probably my scars,” said Silver, rubbing his face. “Doubt anyone in this universe has been this badly burned without attracting attention.”

“It’s not _just_ you they’re looking at, Silver,” said Shadow, seeing the people looking at their hips. “Watch their eyes. They’re looking at our swords.”

“Must think we’re mercenaries or something,” said Sonic.

“Ah’m thinkin’ bodyguards,” said Applejack. “After all, we have saved Equestria ‘bout two-dozen times over. Who knows? Some of our enemies gotta have bounties on our heads for payback.” Then Shadow’s sharp eyes saw someone near the top of a tower with a crossbow aimed right at Twilight.

He scoffed. “It’s almost painful how accurate that is,” he said and drew a silenced M1911 pistol from his coat, took aim without looking and shot a bullet right in the sniper’s gut, causing him to fall to the ground, groaning in pain. “Almost as accurate as I am.”

“Dude, what the hell?” asked Sonic, seriously not in the mood for this sort of thing. “For all we know, that guy was just hunting.” Shadow turned out all the sniper’s pockets and found a single piece of paper in his coat.

“Yeah,” he said, slapping the paper against Sonic’s chest before he dragged the sniper, still groaning, after him. “­ _Head_ -hunting.” Sonic read the paper and saw it was indeed an assassination contract against Twilight and the others. He rolled his eyes as they continued on.

“Y’know Shadow, sometimes I hate you,” he said.

“A feeling which I can assure you is mutual,” said Shadow. “And FYI Princess, you’re welcome for that.”

“Look, can we just meet Celestia and get this over with?” asked Knuckles. Unfortunately, the team would experience another interruption, as the main door to the castle was guarded by armored sentries with spears, which they quickly crossed to block their way.

“Halt,” said one of them. “Identify yourselves immediately.”

“At ease, gentlemen,” said Twilight. “They’re with me. We have a meeting with Princess Celestia.”

“Very well, Princess,” said the other guard. “Just have them leave their weapons here and they’ll be allowed in.”

“No can do, amigo,” said Sonic. “Once the Sacred Swords are pulled from whatever rock they were embedded in to begin with, they’re eternally bound to the souls of their users. We could throw them off the cliff and they’d just reappear on our person.”

“Even so, don’t get any funny ideas, Sonic,” said Caliburn.

“Then I’m afraid you cannot be allowed in,” said the first guard. Shadow just grabbed the contract from Sonic and slapped it into his hands, dropping the assassin next to his feet.

“Read it, arrest him, and understand,” he said darkly. “Either let us in or dig six new graves in the cemetery, because if we’re not armed in there, and another assassin tries his luck, I can guarantee you they’ll succeed.” The guards quickly understood what he was saying from reading the contract and the two moved.

“Yeah, you can- You can just go in,” said the second guard as the team walked in.

“Sheesh Shadow,” said Sonia. “Did you have to be so melodramatic?”

“Not at all,” said Shadow. “But it worked, didn’t it?”

“I could’ve just asked them to make an acceptation because you saved my life,” said Twilight.

“Maybe, but I just wanted to drive the point home that it could happen again, and we might not be able to save you unarmed,” said Shadow.

“Although that is wildly inaccurate,” said Sonic. Then the group came to a large pair of doors at the end of the hall. Sonic pressed his hands to them and gave a strong push, throwing the doors open to reveal a large vaulted room with a huge throne at one end. Gathered near it were three other women who looked like high-elves and a young elf-man with blue hair and eyes, wearing white pants and a white coat over a black t-shirt, who was holding a baby girl with blue eyes and purple and blue hair, who looked like a high elf herself.

The tallest of the woman had glittering, wavy hair colored bright turquoise, pink and purple, that looked like it blew in the wind, even inside. Her eyes were shining purple and she was wearing glittering gold jewelry, including her crown with a purple diamond embedded in it and gold ear-guards, along with a gold corset and what looked like a white one-piece swimsuit under a long white evening gown, that showed part of her perfect legs and large breasts.

The one who stood under her had hair much like hers, but darker blue and purple colors, deep blue eyes and silver and black jewelry themed around the moon, including her black crown and silver ear-guards, not to mention a black choker that seemed to be holding up her deep indigo evening gown by a see-through triangle connected to her breasts, along with a black fabric belt secured with a crescent moon-buckle.

The last one had hair colored bright pink, light purple, and what looked like banana yellow, and a bright pink dress with yellow trim and the shoulders cut off and a blue heart-shaped belt buckle with a gold frame around it, along with a small gold crown with a small amethyst on the top point and a blue diamond in the center.

“Cadence!” said Twilight running in. The woman in the pink dress looked and saw her smiling.

“Twilight!” she said and ran over to her, grabbing her in a hug. Then they broke and started doing a little jig.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake!” they said in sync. “Clap your hands and do a little shake!” Then they laughed and hugged again. Then Twilight noticed Sonic and the others looking at her with a mutual weird look on their faces.

“I’m sorry, what?” asked Sonic.

“I feel like context is needed,” said Sonia, her wing-ears twitching, which spooked her until she remembered them. “Ugh. That’s gonna take some getting used to.”

“Cadence used to babysit me when I was little,” said Twilight as they both got up. “After a while, she got married to my brother Shining Armor over here, and well… You can see what happened next.” Tails looked and figured it out in his head.

“Niece?” he asked. Twilight just nodded. “Nice.”

“Hello travelers,” said the tallest of them. “I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister Luna. We are the simple balance of the sun and moon, and the governing power in this realm.” The order all bowed before the two demigoddesses, Sonic, Sonia and Manic less-so than the others, prompting Luna to raise an eyebrow.

“Your Highness,” said Sonic, stepping forward. “We are the Order of the Sacred Swords; allow me to introduce us. But first, this sort of introduction goes better with armor. Would you mind if we suited up?”

“Not a bit,” said Celestia as everyone closed their eyes. Sonic chuckled.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, guys,” he said as Tails handed out metal chestplates with colored circles in their centers which the whole order donned. Everyone had opened their eyes at this point and was confused. “Trust me; you’re gonna wanna watch this. Boys?” Everyone then slapped the circles in their chests, and instantly metal plates shifted across their bodies, forming armor all around their bodies;

Sonic gained bright blue plate all over and a helmet form-fit for his hair along with a bright green hooded cape, Sonia gained what was essentially a suit of bright purple Heart Kreuz MK. 3 armor similar to the suit worn by Erza Scarlet in the “Fairy Tail” anime, along with a small golden battle-crown around her face, Manic gained a light suit of green plate not restricting his joints, Tails gained what was basically orange and white Iron Man armor, but a large red-glass reticule over his left eye instead of a full metal helmet, Shadow had black steel plating along all his limbs, along with his boots and gloves, a chestplate that resembled his standard stomach, along with the mark of the Black Arms in red in the white part resembling his chest-fur, and a simple metal flip-down visor on a head-mounted rig for a helmet, Knuckles had similar red plating, but his helmet was more of a cap and the visor rested perfectly on his nose when he flipped it down, and he also had an emblem on his chestplate of the Master Emerald along with a quiver of arrows on his back, and Silver had a similar arrangement to the last two, except his was gleaming platinum with gold outlining and his telekinetic insignia on his chestplate. Everyone who saw their armor was instantly in awe, Which Sonic smirked at when he raised his visor. “Pretty sweet, right?”

“Ooh! It’s sweet?” asked Pinkie, zipping up and licking Manic’s helmet.

“EW…” he groaned and Pinkie spit.

“Hey, it’s not sweet,” she said.

“I meant that metaphorically,” said Sonic. “Either way, you like?”

“Very much so,” said Celestia, looking over the suits. “Now then, introductions?”

“Oh, of course,” said Sonic, stepping aside and letting Tails step up first. “First up, my adopted little brother/sidekick, Miles Bedivere Prower the Wise, though we usually just call him Tails, because…” Then he pointed to his little brother’s twin fox-tails to illustrate his point. “Anyway, he’s basically the blacksmith/inventor of our order, but that doesn’t stop him from being the wielder of Sting, Blade of Warning.”

“Blade of Warning?” asked Shining Armor. “What’s that about?”

“I’ll show you,” said Tails, drawing his blade. “See, whenever any sort of threat moves against me, Sting’s blade glows blue.” As if to illustrate, Silver drew his blade and charged up behind him, prompting Sting to start glowing bright blue, in-turn prompting Tails to quickly grab Silver’s arm before he could attack, making the light die down.

“Not bad,” said Sonic as Tails let Silver’s arm go. “You’ve improved, haven’t you?”

“I’ve been training,” said Tails, sheathing his blade and turning to Celestia. “And should you ever need an early warning detection system, look no further than my blade.”

“And, of course, our resident telekinetic and time-traveler, Silver DeLorean Galahad the Pure, wielder of the Modular Blade, Sang-Real,” said Sonic, allowing Silver to step forward and kiss Celestia’s hand as well, making her turn a bit pink.

“My weapon and powers are at your disposal, milady,” he said.

“Well, thank you, but there’s no need to be so formal,” said Celestia.

“What’s all this about a ‘Modular Blade’?” asked Luna.

“I’ll show you,” said Silver, drawing Sang-Real and allowing it to shift; first into a sword, then a one-handed ax, a great-ax, a spear and finally a large scythe before it shifted back down into dagger form. “Sang-Real can transform into any sort of bladed weapon his user can imagine. Plus…” Then he started glowing cyan and floated up into the air. “With my power of future-sight, I can basically predict every move my opponent could possibly make against me. And with my telekinesis, I can levitate myself as I am now, as well as objects, or have projectiles just float past me like nothing.”

“Impressive,” said Cadence.

“Right?” asked Sonic as Silver hovered back down. Then Knuckles stepped forward. “And of course, our bruiser Knuckles Gawain the Strong, guardian of the Master Emerald and wielder of Galatine, the Double-Blade.”

“Master Emerald?” asked Rarity.

“A giant gemstone about as tall as Cadence here, and powerful enough to hold an island as big as this city ten miles above the surface of our planet,” said Knuckles. “My ancestors have served as guardians of the stone for generations.”

“And yet, somehow you keep letting it get stolen and/or shattered,” said Sonic.

“Really dude? Right now?” asked Knuckles, angry.

“What? I'm just saying,” said Sonic.

“Whatever,” said Knuckles, drawing his axes. “Anyways, Galatine here might seem like two blades, but he’s actually built to split in half like this. Plus, he can combine a couple other ways.” To evidence this point, he combined the blades at the end, one blade pointed each direction. Then he threw the construct, making it spin around the room before it flew back to his hand like a boomerang. Then he flipped one of the blades around to have them both face the same way, then he flipped a switch which revealed a bowstring.

“Oh nice!” said Rainbow, flying around his weapon. “How accurate is that thing?”

“I’ll show you,” said Knuckles, knocking an arrow. “Uh Silver, can you balance a grape on top of Celestia’s crown for me?”

“Wait, what?” asked Celestia, as Silver followed his orders.

“Relax, I’ve been training on this thing for eight months, I’m not gonna miss,” said Knuckles, drawing the bow. “Although, just to be safe, you might wanna hold still.” Celestia did so, sitting as still as possible. Then Knuckles took a deep breath, and quickly aimed another way, shooting the arrow toward another wall.

“Ha! You totally missed!” said Rainbow.

“Hold that thought,” said Knuckles as the arrow started ricocheting around the room, bouncing off the wall over and over before splitting the grape just before it flew right back to Knuckles’ gauntleted hand inches before it hit him between the eyes. “Okay, what were you saying?” Rainbow just stared at him dumbfounded, as did most of the others. Knuckles smirked as he returned the arrow to his quiver. “That’s what I thought.”

“Show-off,” smirked Sonic.

“Eh. Can’t help it,” said Knuckles as he split his blades and walked back. “Still, I’d say that was a good enough demo of my skillz.”

“Whatever,” said Sonic as he moved back, and Shadow stepped forward. “And of course, my main rival in this order-”

“I am Shadow Lancelot Robotnik the Powerful,” he interrupted. “The Ultimate Lifeform.”

“Yes, and he wields Arondight, the Blade of Empowerment,” said Sonic, irritated at being interrupted.

“Ultimate Lifeform?” asked Celestia.

“Yes,” said Shadow, pulling a folder out of his coat, silently surprised he actually had it. “You see, I’m not actually a natural being.” Knuckles quickly pulled a table over allowing Shadow to throw the folder onto it, letting schematics, pictures, and printed computer logs to spill out, then he placed his Chaos Emerald next to it all. “I’m actually a genetic experiment. I was created 50 years ago with the DNA of a standard Mobian hedgehog, a genocidal alien race, my oldest friend/sister Maria, and the energy of one of these Chaos Emeralds.”

“Sheesh,” said Rainbow. “What was all that for?”

“Partly, to make my blood a cure for literally any disease,” said Shadow. “But mostly, to make me a living weapon should the aliens who donated their DNA return.”

“Which they did, and he totally kicked ass,” said Sonic. Shadow smirked a bit at that but then got serious again.

“Anyway, Arondight is known as the Blade of Empowerment because if I channel my natural Chaos powers through it…” he said, activating a Chaos Spear in the blade, making it glow bright green. “He doubles its power, channels it into his blade and allows me to either cut easier or launch it as a projectile.” Silver opened the nearby window and levitated a large target outside it, allowing Shadow to swing his saber and shoot the energy projectile out of it, blasting the target to dust on contact.

Armor gave an impressed whistle. “Nice,” he said. “You might make a good addition to the Royal Guard.”

“Thanks, but I work better alone,” said Shadow.

“But you’re part of an order,” said Twilight, confused.

“Never said I liked these guys,” said Shadow.

“Ignore him, he’s been like this since he woke up from stasis,” said Sonic as he and his siblings walked forward. “Now then, as for us, we’re the Royal Pendragon siblings. My brother Manic Tristian the Sly and Sonia Igraine the Beautiful, wielders of the Twin Blades, Narsil and Anduril.” The siblings walked forward and swung their blades around, crossing them in the air, making them spark with energy.

“Now obviously, these bad boys have some kickass powers,” said Manic. “Narsil’s being that his blade can basically turn into a magnet, capable of pulling any metal toward it, as long as it isn’t our armor.” Then as if to evidence that, a large tray flew over to it, slapping onto the flat of the blade.

“Whoa! And that’s aluminum,” said Twilight, as she grabbed it and tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge.

“Alright bud, let it go,” said Manic.

“Okay fine,” said Narsil as it let the tray go. Unfortunately, he didn’t give Twilight any warning and this caused her to fall back onto her butt, accidentally throwing the tray to Luna’s feet.

“As for Anduril, you might not wanna look straight at it,” said Sonia as her blade started glowing insanely bright. Naturally, she wasn’t in too much pain as she was wearing a pair of eclipse-viewers, blunting the light before it turned off.

“Uh, I can’t see,” said Rainbow.

“Don’t worry, it’ll only last a second or two,” said Sonia putting her glasses away. “After all, that was only a quarter of her real power.”

“And trust me, full power can be insanely painful,” said Sonic. “And now, of course, I am Sonic Maurice Pendragon, Knight of the Wind. And this here’s my sword Caliburn, or as he’s better known at full power; Excalibur.”

“And his power?” asked Luna.

“Turns my armor gold and basically makes me a sword-wielding god,” said Sonic bluntly. “And trust me, when that happens, if you get in my way, it’s the last mistake you’ll ever make.”

“Well, with heroes like you, I think Equestria will be in a new age of prosperity,” said Celestia.

“Especially because I took down that assassin outside,” said Shadow.

“Sorry what?” asked Cadence.

“Yeah, apparently someone put out a bounty on Twilight and the others’ heads and someone was looking to collect the contract,” said Shadow. “He’s been handed off to your guards.”

“Plus, we didn’t come here alone,” said Sonic. “We accidentally brought a megalomaniac scientist with us who keeps trying to take over our world with an army of robots, so…”

“Oh,” said Celestia.

“Yeah, so if you see a fat guy with a couple pairs of goggles and a huge orange mustache in a red suit and an army of robots, let us know,” said Sonic.

“Well, with the Grand Galloping Gala coming up soon, that might be a good time for him to attempt an invasion,” said Twilight.

“Pfft. Please,” said Sonic, chuckling. “Don’t try to put strategy and Eggman in the same sentence. He put a swimming pool on a giant warship once and he tried taking Shadow down with what’s basically a weaponized slot machine.”

“Sheesh,” said Twilight. “Okay, forget I said anything.” But Rainbow snickered.

“Wait, his name’s Eggman?” she asked.

“Well, it’s a nickname, but it’s one that’s really stuck,” said Sonic. “His real name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik, but if you meet him, you’ll understand the nickname.”

“Wait, Robotnik? Doesn’t that mean-?” asked Twilight.

“He’s my cousin,” said Shadow angrily. “But after all he did to brainwash me and try to obliterate the planet, I have thoroughly disowned him. From now on, I prefer to be known as Shadow Lancelot."

“Well, if he’s seen, I’ll send someone to warn you,” said Celestia. “But as Twilight said, the Gala is impending. Would you care to attend?”

“Guess so,” said Sonic. “When is it?”

“Two weeks,” said Celestia.

“We’ll be there,” said Shadow. And thus they all left, unsure about what to do now.


	10. Hallway Banter

While the group was walking out of the main throne room, Knuckles stopped right in his tracks and chuckled a bit.

“What?” asked Sonic.

“It just now occurred to me that we didn’t actually ask Celestia why she went by princess and not queen,” said the echidna.

“Ha! Nuts, right,” chuckled Silver. “Man, how’d we forget something like that?”

“Search me, dude,” said Manic. “But hey, long as we’re here, anyone got any theories?”

“I think it’s because she didn’t want to overshadow her sister,” said Tails.

“Sounds reasonable enough,” said Rainbow. “I mean, that is basically what made her turn into a crazy moon demon.”

“Wait what?” asked Sonia.

“Long story,” said Twilight. “We’ll have to explain later.” Then Twilight looked down the hallway and evidentially saw someone that made her face turn sour. “Preferably back at my castle. Now.”

“Why, what’s the deal?” asked Sonic. He looked down the hall and saw a young elf man with light brilliant arctic blue eyes and light amber hair in a light gray suit with a compass rose on his lapel and of course, white tuxedo gloves. “What, that guy? He seems harmless.”

“You’d think, but you’d be wrong,” said Armor, appearing near the group with Cadence and Flurry. “That’s Prince Blueblood, a distant nephew of both the princesses.”

“And unfortunately, my adopted cousin,” said Cadence. Tails seemed to raise an eyebrow at hearing his name.

“Blueblood…” he thought. “That could mean one of two things.”

“Oh come on guys,” said Sonic. “He can’t be that bad.”

“Something tells me you’ll be eating your words in a few minutes,” said Twilight.

“Coming from the Princess of Friendship?” asked Sonic. “Irony~ Look, just lemme talk to him man-to-man and it’ll be fine.” Before any of the others could object, Sonic zipped over to the prince with a happy look on his face. “Hey!”

“AAH!” said Blueblood jumping. “Don’t do that!”

“Sorry man, just got to town,” he said. “Heard you’re a prince.”

“Ah-ah-ah! _The_ prince, sir,” said Blueblood proudly.

“Sheesh, ego check, dude,” muttered Manic.

“Yeah, whatever,” said Sonic. “Name’s Sonic; saved Princess Twilight from some idiotic assassin outside.”

“Oh, did you?” asked Blueblood, shaking his hand. “Then I am in your debt.”

“Really?” asked Sonic. “How’s that?”

“Because, my dear sir, the princess is to be on my arm for the Gala,” said Blueblood. Sonic raised an eyebrow, even moreso when he saw Twilight roll her eyes and sigh.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Blueblood?” she asked. “I am not going to the Gala with you.”

“Come now, princess, you must understand that with your new status-” he began.

“-I have to go to big events with fellow royals, I know,” said Twilight exasperated. “People have read me that particular riot act more times than I can count, which for me is saying something, but I still won’t go with you because-” Then she stopped and remembered. _“Oh nuts,”_ she thought. _“I didn’t have anything to back that up with.”_ Spike noticed her apprehensiveness and quickly whispered something to her to say, which she seemed to find insane, but she just rolled with it. “-Because I’m already going to the Gala with Sonic.”

“Wait what?” asked Blueblood.

“Yeah, what?” asked Sonic. “Since when was I on your arm?”

“Aha! See? Even the commoner denies him being with you,” said Blueblood, catching Twilight’s lie. But his comment only prompted a bevy of angry growling from the order.

“Bitch, you betta ‘poligize,” said Silver.

“For what?” asked Blueblood.

“Look bud, normally I don’t mind people labeling me,” said Sonic. “Heck, I’ve even got a fat arch-nemesis who does it whenever I kick his rotund ass. Course, he always calls me stuff like ‘rat’ and ‘pin-cushion’ and I don’t mind stuff like that as much, but hearing a prick like you call me ‘commoner’? That, mon frier, is where I draw the line.”

“Oh really? Might one ask why?” asked Blueblood.

“One might ask that,” said Sonic, smirking. “And one would get the response; ‘Because I am A; the King of Camelot, the third biggest empire in our dimension, B; the Crown Prince of Mobotropolis, the main biggest empire in our dimension, C; top-ranking general of our planet’s united military power, D; head of an order of knights who wield swords with enough power to erase you from existence, i.e. the guys right behind me, E; an interdimensional superhero who can break the speed of light seven times over in a one attosecond, and F; by absorbing the power of seven ancient gemstones, or the power of my and everyone else’s swords, both of which equal the cosmos _individually_ and all of which we have, basically God.’ And in your case, I would also say ‘G; a guy who doesn’t have fingers that feel like ice cubes even though gloves’.”

“Wait what?” asked Tails, prompting him to run over and yank off one of Blueblood’s gloves to reveal that his fingertips were deep blue and ice-cold. “Oh boy. I know these symptoms: it’s Raynaud’s Disease.”

“You’ve been sick this whole time?” asked Rarity. “Ugh! Now I’m even more happy about last time.”

“Well, it’s a genetic disorder really, but I’m sure we’ll want to hear about this ‘last time’ later,” said Tails, smirking.

“Oh trust me, you will,” said Rarity.

“Stay out of this, harlot,” said Blueblood.

“Okay, that’s it!” said Silver, drawing Sang-Real and grabbing the prince by his jacket collar, with his full hand. “You’d better take it back before I have to get physical.”

“Try it,” said Blueblood. “The guards will kill you the moment you lay a finger on me.”

“You sure about that?” asked Sonic in a snarky tone. “Because Silver’s had five fingers on you for the last few seconds and it doesn’t look like anyone’s doing anything.”

“What?” asked Blueblood, looking over his shoulder to see the guards hanging out near the big plate-glass windows in the hallway, not even flinching. “Guards! What are you doing, help me!” But the guards didn’t even flinch.

“Y’know, maybe if you referred to them by their actual names and not just ‘guards’, they might answer you,” said Armor. “Gladius, Halberd, how about you guys go take a break?”

“Yes sir,” said one of the guards as they marched off.

“See?” asked Armor.

“Nice,” said Sonic. “How’d you know their names? I heard those guys were new here.”

“They are,” said Armor. “But I used to be their captain before Cadence and I got married, so I’ve made it a habit of knowing the name of every guard on or off duty.”

“Wow,” said Silver. “So I’m free to do whatever I want right now?”

“Please do,” said Armor. “I’ve been wanting to do it myself for ages.”

“Alright then,” said Silver, getting a tighter grip on Sang-Real. “Now if I were you, which thank Chaos I’m not, I’d take it back or the knife ends up in the precious packages.” To illustrate his threat, Silver moved the blade to Blueblood’s crotch, who was surprised by the miniscule size of the bulge.

“Wow,” said the blade. “We might as well not do anything, Silver. This guy’s barely even a real man.” The others were curious what he meant by that and checked his yam-sack to see the small bulge and laughed.

“Dude, what are you, a eunuch?” asked Knuckles.

“Don’t bother with that, Silver, just slash his chest open and let’s go home,” said Shadow.

“Mkay,” said Silver, moving his blade back up.

“Actually, y’know what; how bout this?” suggested Sonic. “We’re obviously all going to the Gala and I'm feeling strangely benevolent today, so here’s my suggestion; you take back what you said about both me _and_ Rarity, and we let you off with a warning, and at the Gala, we both just avoid each other like the plague until we all go home, and we all just make nice-nice from then on. What do you think?”

“What’s to make me agree with this deal?” asked Blueblood as Silver let him down. Sonic then threw Caliburn from his scabbard which skewered a large leaf in a pot at the end of the hall before Sonic pulled his sword back on a small cable, leaf in tow.

“Because if you don’t, this leaf will represent you in the next few seconds,” he said simply.

“Okay, fine,” said Blueblood, suddenly afraid for his life. “I take it back.”

“Thank you,” said Sonic, shaking the leaf off and sheathing his sword. “Now, about that warning… Knuckles?” The bruiser then stepped forward and gripped one of Blueblood’s fingers on the middle digit, breaking the bone with his shear grip-strength, causing Blueblood to fall to the ground, crying out in pain at it. Sonia shook her head as she watched the stupid spectacle.

“That’s just sad,” she said.

“Seriously,” said Sonic. “Cmon Shadow, let’s go.” Shadow just nodded and lifted the green Chaos Emerald.

“Chaos Control,” he said darkly, making the group disappear in a bright green flash. Armor and Cadence just walked off with Flurry, not even feeling sorry for the shameful excuse for a prince on the floor.


	11. Relaxation

Having returned to Ponyville after the both verbal and partly physical ass-kicking of Prince Blueblood, the group had all returned to Ponyville and had just arrived at Twilight’s castle to find a girl waiting near the doors. She was an elf like some of the others and had deep blue eyes along with purple hair with light blue streaks and was wearing purple wizard’s robes with runes along the borders.

“Hey Twilight, where ya been?” she asked.

“Sorry Starlight, just had to introduce our newest friends to the princess,” said Twilight. “Guys, this is my protégé Starlight Glimmer.”

“Good to meet ya, name’s Sonic,” he said, walking forward. “Lay me some skin.” The two slid their arms against each other before they fist-bumped, with Starlight pulling her hand back in evident pain after that.

“Ow. Sheesh, your hand is hard,” she said.

“Oh sorry, that’s probably my swordsmanship training,” said Sonic. “Need a strong hand to keep a grip on a sword.” Then Sonic’s eyes caught on something in the hill nearby; a huge purple building with waterfalls and stars surrounding it and a large shield-like insignia at the top of an archway on the second level. “Whoa! How the heck did I miss that?”

“Miss wha- sweet Master Emerald!” said Knuckles as the others all looked over and saw the same building.

“What is that place?” asked Tails. “Looks like a school.”

“You’d be correct, Tails,” said Twilight. “Everyone, welcome to the School of Friendship, established by me and my friends to help teach the Magic of Friendship to places outside the borders of Equestria.”

“And I assume that isn’t just hyperbole,” said Shadow.

“You’d be right, darling,” said Rarity. “It’s the most powerful force of defense in this world. And it deserves to be taught, so Equestria always has heroes to defend it, even when we may be gone.” That sparked a strange look in Tails’ eye.

“That reminds me,” he said. “Princesses like Celestia are immortal, right?”

“Yeah, why?” asked Rainbow. Tails directed his eyes to Twilight and it all made sense. “Oh… I see whatcha did there.”

“Wait, what?” asked Twilight. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, if you’re immortal, and your friends aren’t… Making sense now?” said Tails. Then it made sense.

“Oh…” said Twilight sadly.

“Don’t think about it too hard, Sugarcube,” said Applejack, putting her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Even if you do outlive us, our bond is just as immortal.”

“Darn right it is,” said Rainbow. Then the guys saw a large shadow flying over them. They looked up and saw someone flying above them on what looked like feathered wings.

“Who’s that?” asked Manic.

“Ugh. Gallus,” said Rainbow. “Looks like he’s ignoring the rules again.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sonia. “Is flying that high-?”

“Over schoolgrounds against the rules? Absolutely,” said Twilight. “I should know; I wrote the book.”

“Sit tight, I’ll get him,” said Sonic, giving a strong jump from the earth to be right at his height, but then something occurred to him. “ _Oh crap, I forgot! I never learned how to fly in this body!_ ” Quickly he tried focusing on flying, and out of nowhere, he started hovering and saw something forming on his back. At the very least, he had expected to see the wings of a peregrine falcon sprouting from his back, but instead, he was welcomed with a bright blue outline of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird jet fighter forming just above his back, engines revving up. “Ohh-ho-ho-ho-ho…! Sonic likey!!!” Then the engines fired, blasting Sonic along to catch up to Gallus. Sonic saw he was actually a rather dark-skinned fellow with azure eyes, cerulean and amber feather-like hair. He was wearing a black four-piece suit that looked like a school uniform, these suspicions being confirmed by the insignia on his jacket lapel; it was the same shield as the one on the school, and it appeared as though the “wings” Sonic thought he was flying on was actually a cerulean feather-esque cape that was actually flapping like wings somehow.

Then he flew up next to the guy and whistled. “Hey, bud! You ran a red light back there!” he yelled over the wind and whine of his wings’ engines. “Gonna need to ask you to land!”

“Teach sent ya up, didn’t she?” asked Gallus. “Go ahead and try to stop me, I’m on a free period.”

“Yeah, nice try pal,” said Sonic. “Whatever rules Twilight might have you guys follow, sorry to say I don’t play by them, or any other rules! You don’t do as I say, we do things the hard way!” Then Sonic rolled over to over Gallus, turned his engines to point upward and fired them, essentially tackling Gallus down.

“Oh, so we’re playing like that huh?” he asked. “Okay, let’s play!” He rolled out from under him and his fingernails extended into amber talon-like claws just before he charged Sonic. Quickly, the knight drew his sword and blocked the claws on the blade's flat, but the impact sent the two falling down toward the ground near the school. Quickly, Sonic spun his wing-engines to point back down and fired them to try and stop them from crashing, and they barely didn’t. They were still hovering, with Sonic panting.

“Whew. Man, this flying is a lot more tiring than I thought,” he said.

“Not used to it, huh?” asked Gallus. “Good. Then I can take you down easier.”

“Yeah, you might wanna hold your thought on that for a sec,” said Sonic as he powered down his wings and they vanished. Once his feet touched the ground, he practically disappeared in a large gust of wind. Gallus was shocked at this until he heard the swordsman whistle from above him. He looked and saw Sonic standing on the terrace above him. “Catch me if you can!” Then he zipped down toward the castle. Gallus smirked and raised his cape to catch the wind like a sail, flying after Sonic at the castle. Once nearly there, he saw Sonic wasn’t suspecting him and dove down at him, but he phased straight through him.

“How did you-?” he asked. Then Sonic just looked down at him and smirked.

“Little trick I learned from a friend of mine,” he said. “Only works for speedsters like me, but man is it powerful. Felt kinda weird though. Anyways, how bout introductions? Name’s Sonic.”

“Gallus, Griffinborn,” he said, retracting his claws and shaking his hand. “Those were some pretty nice moves you had there, man. For a Windwalker.”

“Oh that was nothing,” said Knuckles. “He was barely even trying.”

“Seriously?” asked Gallus. “Man, now I wanna see you when you _are_ trying.”

“Oh, you really should,” said Sonic. “But first, I just realized something; while we’re in this universe, we don’t have anywhere to stay.”

“Well, I think we still have some room in the dormitory,” said Twilight. “If you’re okay with that, that is.”

“Guess we don’t have much choice,” said Sonic.

“Now-now, darling,” said Rarity, talking to Twilight. “People with such power as they can’t sleep with the students. We must offer them only the best of care while they’re here. Sir Galahad can stay with me.”

“Wait what?” asked Silver. “As in sleep at your place?”

“Good idea, Rarity,” said Pinkie, grabbing Sonia and Manic in a headlock. “You two can stay with me!”

“Uh, I don’t think I have the fortitude to stay at your place for more than a few hours and still be sane,” said Manic.

“Eh, it’s not that bad once you get to know her,” said Rainbow. “Anyway, I gotta agree; that’s not actually a bad idea.”

“Alright fine,” said Sonic. “Let’s do it. Everyone stays with whoever first found them after we showed up here. At least, until we can figure out how to get home.”

“Well, in the meantime, I just hope to get your sizes so I can make your clothes for the Gala,” said Rarity.

“Speaking of which, Prof,” said Gallus, directed at Twilight. “How’d it go securing tickets for me and the others?”

“Cmon Gallus,” said Twilight, holding out a fan of 21 gold tickets. “You honestly think we’d go to something this big without our favorite students?”

“Speakin’ of which, where _are_ the others anyway?” asked Applejack.

“Well, Silverstream did see Smolder choking out Sandbar in the gym,” said Gallus.

“Any particular reason why?” asked Starlight.

“Not that I could tell,” said Gallus.

“Well, better go deal with this,” said Knuckles, cracking his neck before he walked off to the school. While he was doing that, Sonic realized something.

“So real quick; what’s the deal with you and Blueblood?” he asked Twilight.

“Yeah, that’s actually a good question,” said Rainbow. “What _is_ the story with you two?” Twilight blushed but scowled.

“It’s… not nice to talk about,” she said.

“Well, at least give us a sort of simple analogy or something,” asked Tails.

“Well um… you know how when you’re at a frat party in college and there’s that one creepy guy who hits on anyone and everyone?” asked Twilight.

“Ohhh… I suddenly regret being nice to him,” said Sonic.

“You and everyone else that’s ever met him, darling,” said Rarity. “Now then, I suggest we get to the gymnasium before Smolder kills Knuckles.”

“Oh please,” said Silver. “I think we should be more concerned about Knuckles going crazy and leveling the place.”

“Well, in that case…” said Twilight as they all ran to the school.


	12. School Antics

Quickly the team burst into the gym, worried about the students only to find Knuckles was wearing a shredded iteration of his vest and had grabbed one of the students and was holding her under his arm to try and get her to stop thrashing.

She had dark skin like Gallus, but her hair was mainly orange with small blonde horn-like locks on the sides and a purple flip in the front, and her skin was scaly like Spike’s, not to mention that her blue eyes were slited. She was wearing a uniform similar to the others, but the vest was open and the tie was so loose, it looked like it might just slip off her neck. But what drew the team’s attention was that she had a small pair of scaly wings sticking out of her back and a dragon-like tail sliding out from under her skirt, which Knuckles was holding in his other hand.

“So if you can explain to me in one sentence why you thought attacking a guy like me was a good idea, I might just let you go,” he said, but the girl just struggled against his arm and tried to claw him away, but he didn’t even flinch. “Yeah see, I don’t get it either.”

“Uh, what happened here?” asked Sonic.

“Well, I found this rascal choking out that guy and intervened,” said Knuckles, pointing to the blue-haired, green-eyed student nearby with a red sleeve-mark on his neck. “Then this wacko attacks me and basically destroys my vest, which was _linen_ by the way, so thanks for that, and then I manage to grab her torso, but then her tail goes nuts and I have to grab it before she puts my goddamn eye out.”

“Alright Smolder, what was it this time?” asked Starlight.

“Make this guy let me go first, he’s crushing my wings,” said Smolder.

“Knuckles?” asked Sonic.

“Fine,” said the echidna, letting go of Smolder. “But I’m watchin’ you, lizard.”

“Do you _see_ the stereotypes we Dragonborn have to put up with?” asked Spike.

“Man, I feel sorry for ya,” said Sonic.

“Okay so… what’s the story?” asked Rainbow.

“Hand-to-hand training,” said Sandbar, his voice a bit raspy at having been choked out. “Well, hand-to-claw, if we’re being serious.”

“ _That’s_ what this was about?” asked Starlight.

“More importantly, you call _that_ a choke-hold?” asked Knuckles. “ _This_ is how you do it!” Then he grabbed Silver, put his neck under his bicep and flexed, choking his ally.

“Uh…” said Twilight. “Should we intervene?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, he does this a lot,” said Sonic. “Hell, we all do this a lot; it’s nice training.”

“Speaking of which,” said Silver, slipping out from under Knuckles’ arm with his telekinesis and drawing Sang-Real, shifting it into a broadsword. “You in the mood for a duel, Sir Gawain?” Knuckles smirked and drew his axes.

“Bring it on, Galahad!” he said and charged, with the two clashing blades for a few minutes just before Silver dodged a slash that Knuckles just barely managed to stop before he accidentally decapitated a young girl with extremely spiky elf-like ears, bright blue hair and blue-violet eyes.

“Whoo! Sorry,” said Knuckles, stabbing the blade he almost hit her with into the ground. “Man, that was too close.”

“Not to mention a bit nostalgic,” said Galatine.

“How do you mean?” asked Sonic.

“Remember that debacle a few Christmases ago?” asked the blade.

“Oh right, Burtalack,” said Sonic. “Man, I almost forgot about that.”

“I didn’t,” said Knuckles, moving his dreadlocks to show a small cut on the back of his neck, clearly from a blade. “Still got the slash-mark from his ax.”

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Twilight.

“Oh that’s right,” said Sonic. “We haven’t told you about our adventures before. Well, let’s hit the nearest classroom and we can explain.” They all did so, being introduced around the rest of the class; the girl Knuckles nearly decapitated was a mermaid named Silverstream (who didn’t have her tail because dry land), the larger of the group was a deeply-tanned girl with olive green eyes, moderate scarlet hair held in a couple of loops by pink bows and small dark green horns protruding from her head named Yona, a Viking from the Northern part of the kingdom according to Pinkie, and the last one was a young girl with pale grayish arctic blue skin, a single horn protruding from her forehead and light amaranth hair, whose eyes were essentially cyan pits and thin light amaranth insect-like wings named Ocellus, a shapeshifting Changeling from a hive far away from Equestria. Once everyone was situated and Rarity had fixed Knuckles’ vest, Sonic and his order moved to the front of the room to tell him the story.

“So before we begin this story, do you have some sort of huge winter gift-giving celebration in this dimension?” asked Sonic.

“Yeah, Hearth’s Warming Eve,” said Sandbar. “It’s basically a celebration of the founding of Equestria.”

“Well, our Christmas is sort of like that, only it celebrates the birth a of a major religious figure and basically the invention of said religion,” said Sonic. “Anyways, sit tight folks and heed well to the legend of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'. It was a few years ago in our Order’s court around the Round Table in Camelot and we and all our friends were there for Christmas Eve to celebrate, feast and get drunk. But just when we all sat down, some gigantic stranger showed up with forest green skin and a peridot beard wearing green metal armor plated with emeralds riding a green horse and wielding an enormous very elaborately decorated ax. Also, I think he had some sort of plant, what was it again?”

“Uh, holly branch, right?” asked Manic.

“Yeah, that sounds right,” said Silver. “Anyway, he said he came to test the honor of the Knights of the Round Table as we were known and had a little holiday game he’d like to propose to do so, but nothing as fun and harmless as an archery contest or a shield-toss. This guy came up with what might possibly be the craziest Christmas game in history.” While he was talking, Tails quickly moved to the blackboard and began illustrating. “See, he says he will stand perfectly still and let one of us attack him with his ax as long as the knight that did it agrees to meet him at his chapel the next year and let him hit them back. Plus, if they do it and withstand it, they get to take his ax. And as Sonic said, it’s a really nice ax which I think we have, right Knuckles?”

“Yeah, I think so, but isn’t it back with him in Camelot?” asked Knuckles.

“Oh yeah, nuts,” said Silver. “Well, back to the story, I guess.”

“Right. So obviously, stunned by the crazy request, no one in their right minds would dare volunteer to hit him, even with the promise of a free possibly magical weapon,” said Sonic. “So this Green Knight, as he introduced himself earlier, mocks us and calls me out to take up the challenge, but Knuckles steps in instead and straight-up decapitates him with one swing.”

“Wait, you killed him?!” asked Silverstream, shocked.

“You’d think, right?” asked Knuckles. “But actually, the guy just gets right back up, slaps his head back on his body, takes his ax, wishes us a Merry Christmas and tells me to meet him at his chapel in a year. So as we all collectively pull our jaws off the ground, we plan for it.”

“Now obviously Shadow wants to show this guy that you don’t mess with us without suffering the consequences of the whole order, but I say that I’ll go alone and honor the agreement,” he continued. “So once the holiday season rolls around again, I head out to the guy’s chapel, but on the way, I run into a castle in the woods ruled by a recently obscure noble named Lord Burtalack and his honestly smokin’ hot wife Jennifer. So they offer to let me stay in their castle until the time comes for me to meet the Green Knight. And in the meantime, Burtalack proposes a game we can play.”

“Oh boy,” said Ocellus.

“Don’t worry, nothing as sinister as the Green Knight’s game,” said Knuckles. “See, Burtalack’s a hunter, so every day he goes out and hunts and gives me whatever he catches, and in return, I give him whatever I get that day.”

“Game not make sense,” said Yona in a strange fragmented English tongue. Pinkie quickly explained that all the Vikings from her land spoke that way, having not been around Equestrians for very long.

“Yeah, it didn’t make sense to me either until Burtalack went out to hunt and Jennifer started making moves on me,” said Knuckles. “Now when this happens, I’m kind of between a rock and a hard place because of our Knights’ Code of Chivalry. See, on one hand, she’s already married to Burtalack so I’m definitely not going to go to bed with her because that would be so unbelievably wrong. But on the other hand, the Code says I’m not allowed to insult her by _completely_ turning her down. So as a simple compromise, I accept a single kiss but nothing more, which I then give to Burtalack that night in exchange for some pretty swanky-looking veal. The next couple days play out basically the same, except the number of kisses increases daily, but on the third day, I not only end up with three kisses but also a magic green belt that Jennifer gives me which she claims will make me immune to any and all injury.”

“I see where this is going,” said Smolder. “You give Burtalack the kisses but not the belt.”

“Well yeah, duh,” said Knuckles. “I was due to get my head cut off; what would you do? So I break the rules and keep the belt. So the next morning, I make my way to the Green Knight’s chapel where he’s honestly pretty surprised I showed up in the first place, but then he forgets this and takes a swing at me, but I flinched and he takes another swing to test me. At this point, I’m getting antsy and ask him to get it over with. So he finally swings but just slits the back of my neck a little bit. So he’s like ‘Oh bummer, guess I couldn’t swing well enough. Good game though’. Whereas I was just stood there, honestly thankful I didn’t die but the whole situation was just like ‘Wha…?’”

“Okay, I am completely lost right now,” said Silverstream.

“Well, would you believe me if I told you the Green Knight was actually Lord Burtalack?” asked Knuckles.

“I would not,” said Gallus.

“Well, that’s what happens,” said Knuckles. “The guy tells me it was basically just a huge ploy by Sonic’s prick cousin Morgana who had hoped the initial party-crashing the year prior would make Sonic’s fangirl Amy die of shock.”

“Wait, so then what was the point of that game at the castle?” asked Smolder.

“Well, that was all just a test for my nobility,” said Knuckles. “Unfortunately, I didn’t do that great having not given up the belt, but Burtalack tells me that I earned my victory either way and offers me the ax.”

“So do you accept it?” asked Rainbow.

“Sort of,” said Knuckles. “Instead, I made him a counter-offer; he could keep his ax if he agreed to come and join the order in Camelot as one of Sonic’s knights. He gladly accepted and after picking up Jennifer, we all returned back to the castle and Sonic knighted him, naming him Sir Burtalack the Clever, Knight of the Round Table.”

“And believe me when I say that the title speaks for itself,” said Sonic. “Burtalack’s actually a great strategist. I’m surprised we didn’t hire him sooner.”

“Right?” asked Sonia. “But anyway, that’s just one of the stories of our order. We’ve got plenty more if you want to hear them.”

“But in the meantime, any questions?” asked Shadow. Silverstream raised her hand at that. “Yes?”

“What’s the story with Morgana?” she asked. Sonic clenched his fist at that.

“She’s our Uncle Chuck’s daughter,” he said. “We never met her until years later, but when we did, she was completely crazy; a shell of her former self, warped by the ways of the black magic she learned in Camelot. We were forced to lock her up in Camelot Castle’s dungeons, with a special collar that nullified all of her powers.”

“Honestly, if we never see her again, it’ll be too soon,” said Sonia.

“But enough doom and gloom, how about we all head out for lunch?” asked Manic. “It’s on me!” Everyone seemed in favor of this plan as they left, but Sonic pulled Manic aside.

“Manic, how are we supposed to pay for lunch? We don’t have any of this universe’s currency,” he said.

“Relax dude, we’ve got these, don’t we?” asked Manic, holding up his ring sack.

“Rings? Oh of course, why didn’t I think of that?” asked Sonic. “They’re solid gold, so they must be worth something.” And thus the Order’s travels in this new realm began.

**In case you’re wondering, that “Gawain and the Green Knight” thing is actually a real Arthurian story, but I just edited it to my liking a little bit. For example, they never tell us the name of Burtalack’s wife, so I made it Jennifer. And the Green Knight never actually joined the order in the original, but I thought that would be nice. Anyway, hope you’re enjoying the story.**


	13. The Witch

The next few days breezed by with everyone having been sized and gotten ready for the festivities at the Gala, which was only a few days away at this point. Sonic was just out in the town street market shopping with Twilight and Spike when he saw a woman in a long black hooded cloak nearby. He wasn’t sure how but he seemed to be sensing a strong magical aura from her.

“Excuse me,” he said. “Hate to spring this on you now, but you just seem so familiar. Do I know you?”

“Of course you do, your majesty,” said the woman slyly. Once Sonic heard her speak, he was almost instantly in fear and he moved for Caliburn.

“Sonic, what’s going on?” asked Twilight, concerned. And well she should have been, as when the cloak was thrown off, the two saw it was an elf-girl roughly Sonic’s age with tan skin, a mop of black hair and a single white lock on her head and purple hair in the back, wearing ragged clothes and a necklace made up of small bones and several rings on each hand.

“Morgana,” growled Sonic, drawing Caliburn. “How did you get out of the dungeon?”

“I have my ways,” she said. “And now, I’m here for vengeance for you locking me away in those dungeons for those five long years.”

“You can’t say that wasn’t entirely unfounded,” said Sonic. “You did try to kill me and take over Camelot after all.”

“Fair enough, but if you ask me, I still deserve vengeance,” said Morgana.

“You honestly still think you can take me, cousin?” asked Sonic, swinging Caliburn on his hand. “You never could in the old days.”

“Maybe not, but I’ve had practice since then!” yelled Morgana, blasting a ball of green flame out of her hand at Sonic, who casually deflected it with his sword.

“Apparently not enough,” he said and charged her, but then she became a cloud and he passed right through her before she reformed. “Okay… This is happening.”

“Sonic, are you sure about this?” asked Twilight.

“Relax,” said Sonic. “I can take care of this in my sleep!” Then he tried again, but Morgana summoned an invisible shield on her arm and deflected his strike. “Although that being said, better call in the others for a contingency. Tell them Morgana’s escaped and I’ve engaged her.”

“That’s going to be very easily misinterpreted,” said Spike.

“Less talking, more getting the others!” yelled Sonic as he charged on Morgana who had generated a crystal sword from a gemstone she found in the shallow dirt nearby and countered Caliburn, locking the two blades. Twilight quickly grabbed Spike and squeezed him into the air, making green flames shoot out of his mouth in a large flare-like fashion. Morgana was amazed by this, allowing Sonic to knock her away and gain the upper hand.

“What sort of sorcery is that?” she asked.

“No sorcery, Morgana,” said Sonic, spinning Caliburn on his hand. “Just the way this universe works.”

“Yeah well, sometimes the way all worlds work is that the king falls!” said Morgana as she charged her cousin only for Knuckles to jump in front of her and block her sword with Galatine positioned on his arm like a shield. Then he threw the blade away and split his blade back in half, grabbing each piece just as the others arrived, all pointing their blades at Sonic’s cousin. The girls and their students gathered around Twilight, confused as to what was going on.

“My lords and ladies,” said Sonic. “Allow me to introduce my cousin, Morgana la Fae; the enchantress who sent Sir Burtalack against Camelot in our story the other day.”

“Ha! You told them that story?” asked Morgana. “Well clearly, you underestimate me more than I thought, cousin. Now die!” Then she shot huge blasts of lightning and fire out of her hands at him, but Shadow got in the way and absorbed the magic into Arondight.

“Time for a taste of your own medicine!” he said, pointing the blade back at her. “Chaos Spear!” Then the energy projectile shot from the sword, charged by the lightning and fire and hitting Morgana right in the chest, knocking her back.

“Face it, Morgana,” said Sonic as she got up. “You’ve never beaten me and you never will. You lose.”

“Perhaps now, Cousin,” said Morgana as she got up, still in pain. “But I promise you, the next time we meet will be the last.” And with that, she vanished in a plume of purple fire from her feet. Sonic chuckled as he and his knights sheathed their blades.

“She’s been making that promise for years and she’s yet to make good on it,” said Sonic.

“Yeah, she talks a big game but at the end of the day, she’s always just a worthless stage magician,” said Manic.

“Well, I wouldn’t say _all_ stage magicians are worthless,” said Starlight.

“Speaking of which, where is Trixie anyway?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Haven’t seen her around town in a long time.”

“Ah, she said she was visiting family in Canterlot,” said Starlight. “Expected to be back soon, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

“Well, either way, let’s just pray that’s the last surprise we have this week,” said Sonia. “I really want to try and have a good time at the Gala.” Unfortunately and honestly quite unsurprisingly, Morgana had been listening the whole time and was very interested.

“Hell-o, a party?” she asked herself. “This seems interesting.” Then she grabbed an innocent bystander by the neck with her magic and started choking the absolute shit out of him. “Cousin going to a high-class gala this week, want to kill him, need location, give it to me and I spare your life.”

“Canterlot, the capital city on the cliff,” said the innocent.

“Thank you,” said Morgana as she threw him into a tree and flew off, thinking strategically that she couldn’t assail the capital city singlehanded and survive. Then she managed to find Eggman’s fleet in the sky a few odd miles away from town. She decided to introduce herself and give him the situation as she landed on the main deck of the Egg Carrier, but a large army of Egg Pawns and Egg Fighters shot up in front of her, weapons trained on her.

“Join me, my Centurions,” she said and waved a spell over all of them, not only enthralling all the machines but also turning them into more humanoid robots with that resembled soldiers from the Roman Empire. Then she turned her gaze to the bridge where she knew Eggman would be. “Ivo Robotnik, n’est-pas?”

“Indeed,” said the scientist as he flew out in his old Egg mobile. “And you are?”

“Morgana la Fae,” she said. “Sonic’s cousin.”

“Ah, named for the witch of Arthurian legend,” said Eggman. “And would I be correct in assuming you have just as much resentment for our good king as she had for Arthur?”

“More than you know,” said Morgana.

“Well then, you will have the full support of the Robotnik Reich,” said Eggman.

“No, no-no-no-no-no,” said Morgana. “I mean Führer Robotnik? That just doesn’t sound right. Now, Caesar Robotnik? How does that sound?”

“Mm. I like it,” said Eggman. “Very well then, we are officially the Robotnik Empire. But I think I’ll require control of my robots back, and more of them designed like this. I like this.”

“Of course,” said Morgana as she snapped her fingers and the robots instantly went back to work. Then she sent a current of magic into Eggman’s console, instantly and wirelessly reprogramming the ship’s robot assembly area to build the robots like what she had done. “Now then, Sonic will be at a party in the capital city on the cliff up there at the end of the week. I suggest we wait to build up our army before we attack.”

“An astute suggestion, my dear,” said Eggman as the Centurions marched past. “And once the army has risen, there will be nothing to stop us from conquering this world.” And thus began the precursor to a war.


	14. The Gala (pt. 1)

The day of the Grand Galloping Gala had arrived and the group showed up at Rarity’s shop at sunset just in time for her to roll out a few racks of clothes packed in black dress bags.

“Right on time, everyone,” she said. “I trust these ensembles will meet with your standards.” Sonic quickly took the bag marked with his head-insignia and was surprised when he opened it to see a white suit with red trim, a red ascot, and red gloves.

“Whoa,” he said. “This kinda reminds me of my coronation outfit from when we took back Mobotropolis after the war.”

“I know, right?” asked Manic, having opened his bag to see a suit similar to Sonic’s, only his jacket, ascot and gloves were navy blue and the trim was a small bit brighter. “Haven’t worn stuff like this in ages.”

“Well, I don’t mind it,” said Sonia, looking at her purple gown with a silver belt, a thin metal crown, and purple shawl. “I’ve honestly been wanting to wear stuff like this more often.”

“And Sir Gawain, I have your ensemble right here,” said Rarity, handing Knuckles his bag. Knuckles creased his brow but smirked.

“No need,” he said. “I have my own.” And with that, he pulled out a duffle bag and pulled out some old brown robes with green jewels. “These are the old formal robes of my family. My father handed them down to me before he and my mother disappeared, and I’ve had them ever since. They’re sentimental to me, I hope you understand.”

“Fully,” said Rarity happily, putting the bag back. Silver had just levitated his suit out of its bag and found it was a suit like the others, but instead of a tux at the top, it had a black mandarin jacket.

“Nice,” he said. “I always did like these sorts of things.”

“Not bad,” said Shadow, looking at his black suit. “But I honestly prefer things like this, especially when they don’t crush my floof here.” With that, Shadow discarded the tie onto another suit nearby and removed his shirt, revealing that even in his humanoid form, he still had his chest fur. Then when Tails checked his bag, he was happily surprised at the brown form over the white shirt and black tie.

“Ha! A pilot’s jacket?” he asked. “I haven’t worn one of these in ages. This is great.”

“Well boys, let’s suit up,” said Sonic. And with that, everyone entered a super-fast vertical spin and once they stopped, they were instantly dressed in their formal wear with Sonic and his siblings letting their instrument medallions hang out on their chests.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” said Rarity as she grabbed something from behind the counter with her magic. “What good is a king without a crown?” And at that, she produced a gold crown that looked just about Sonic’s size and levitated it over to his head. Sonic, understanding the situation, kneeled and allowed Rarity to place it on his head, just like his mother had at his coronation. Once it landed on his brow, he stood and smirked at his crown’s weight.

“Not bad,” he said. “So, what do you say we get going?”

“Wait, what about the students?” asked Sonia.

“Ah, relax,” said Gallus. “Uniforms are enough.”

“I must protest, Gallus,” said Rarity, shoving her students behind a changing screen. “I’ve already got outfits picked out for you!”

“Wait what- No, teach we can- Ah! Hey, don’t get any funny ideas!” yelled Gallus behind the screen as he and the others protested and yelled as it looked like Rarity was literally throwing their clothes off them and over the screen. Once the screaming died down, the screen moved, and the students were all dressed in outfits that seemed to complement their color-schemes.

“See? Much better,” said Rarity. Shadow chuckled for a second. “What?”

“Oh nothing, it’s just that there’s a song back home that I think fits the you of five seconds ago perfectly,” said Shadow.

“Well then, on that note, I suggest we all change and head on up to the Gala,” said Starlight. The girls agreed and made their way into the back.

“What song are you talking about?” asked Sonic.

“Two words; Meredith. Brooks,” said Shadow with a smirk.

“Oh-ho-ho, nice,” said Sonic, bumping him on the arm.

**The song in question, of course, being Meredith’s piece simply titled “Bitch”. Look it up, you’ll understand where Shadow’s comin’ from.**

“Shut up guys,” said Silver. “You know they can still hear you, right?” And once he said that, the girls all walked out from behind the blinds wearing beautiful dresses made specially for all of them. Except for Spike; he was wearing a clichéd black tux with a red tie.

“Okay, we ready to go?” asked Applejack.

“Almost,” said Sonic as he and his knights snapped their fingers and their swords appeared on their waists. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“Wait, why-?” asked Twilight.

“In case Blueblood didn’t get the memo,” he interrupted. “Also, in case Morgana or Eggman attack.” Twilight was about to retort but actually believed that was smart.

“Okay, that’s actually a fair point,” she said.

“Well then,” said Sonic, extending his arm to her. “Shall we?”

Twilight blushed and looped her arm under his. “Let’s,” she said as they all walked outside.

“Alright then,” said Sonic. “Sir Lancelot, if you would?”

“Hmph. As you order, your highness,” said Shadow and pulled out his Chaos Emerald. “Chaos…” But before he could finish that thought, Knuckles thought of something.

“Wait-wait, wait,” he said, stopping Shadow. “I think I have a better idea.”

“Better than instant teleportation?” asked Shadow, putting the emerald away.

“Well, at the very least, it’ll be a hell of a lot classier,” said Knuckles. Then he gave a loud whistle and a small crystal ball flew out of Sonic’s coat, hovering in front of the group and the face of an aged man with a long white beard appeared in it, but he appeared to be sleeping.

“Ah, good call Knuckles,” said Sonic, giving the echidna a playful punch in the arm. Then he turned his attention to the ball. “Merlin. Merlin? Ugh, Merlin you old fart, wake up!” Then he knocked a finger against the ball, making it wiggle in the air a bit, prompting the old man to wake up with a start.

“ _Eh, what, what-what?_ ” he said, waking up and opening his wise-looking gray eyes to see the two in his own orb. “ _Oh, Sir Gawain, King Sonic. How wonderful to see you again. To what do I owe the pleasure?_ ”

“We need transport, Merlin,” said Sonic. “I don’t care what it is as long as it can fly and hold-” Quickly, he counted everyone there. “-21 people. Also, we’re in another dimension, so…”

“ _Oh, oh, yes, yes, of course, my lord,_ ” said Merlin, turning to a mirror-like pool of water. “H _ang on a bit, let me just track you down and- Oh my. Uh, are you quite sure you’re in another dimension, my lord?_ ”

“Merlin, look at us,” said Sonia, gesturing at her body. “I would think it was obvious.”

“ _Oh yes, of course, forgive me Lady Sonia,” said Merlin. “Here, I’ll just make a call really quick and-_ ” Then he opened a visual portal in the reflecting pool and talked to someone for a good few minutes, getting Sonic antsy, and when Sonic gets antsy he gets annoyed.

“Cmon Merlin,” said Sonic. “We just need transport, how difficult is that?”

“ _Calm down, my lord,_ ” said Merlin as he turned back to the ball. “ _Your transport will be arriving right now. Alakazam!_ ” And with a wave of his finger, a large winged carriage appeared out of nowhere next to the group. But the crazy thing was it appeared to only be able to hold one or two passengers.

“Uh, Merlin? I said twenty-one, not two,” said Sonic.

“ _Have I ever gotten one of your requests wrong, my king?_ ” asked Merlin simply, checking his tree-branch staff. Sonic added it up and smirked at the old man as he opened the door to reveal enough seats to equal a train coach.

“And that, Merlin, is why you are my royal mage,” he said.

“ _Indeed, my liege,_ ” said Merlin. “ _Just call if you need me again. Remember; 42-42-564, whenever you need to knock on my door._ ” And with that, the image faded and the orb flew back into Sonic’s coat.

“Man, that guy seems pretty funny,” said Sandbar as the group boarded the wagon.

“He really can be,” said Sonic. “Merlin sort of trained me to rule Camelot and he’s been by my side for a good few years since I took the crown.”

“Well, either way, I must say Knuckles, this was quite smart of you,” said Rarity. “We’ll definitely make an impression with this.”

“Well then, let’s get going,” said Knuckles as he closed the door and stomped twice with a small familiar appearing at the front of the carriage. “The city on the cliff, if you please.”

“Right away, milord,” said the familiar before it disappeared from the front and manifested as a large pair of white feathered wings sprouting from the carriage and flew it away up to Canterlot. Unfortunately, Morgana had picked up on the magic of the carriage and smirked.

“My cousin and his coterie make their way to the capital,” she said. “The time has come, Caesar Robotnik.”

“Not just yet, Morgana,” said Eggman, having changed into an armored version of the robes of the Roman Emperor. “Let them enjoy their evening for a time, and once they are truly enjoying themselves, _then_ and only then do we attack.”

Morgana smirked maliciously. “Ooh-hoo-hoo, devious. I love it!” she said, her eyes flaring with black magic.


	15. The Gala (pt. 2)

Eventually, the carriage arrived in the air near the driveway of the palace with everyone gathering at the windows to catch a good look at the city from this angle and saw a fleet of upper-class horse-drawn carriages.

“Familiar,” said Knuckles as the carriage driver materialized at the reigns again. “Land us in the line and just let us roll up to the door. It’ll look a little less conspicuous.”

“As you wish, my lord,” said the familiar as he disappeared again and the carriage landed with the wings disappearing and the carriage itself rolling to a stop right at the red carpet.

“He-hey…! Nice,” said Gallus. “Haven’t been to a big red-carpet event before in my life.”

“Welcome to Equestria, kid,” said Applejack.

“Well,” said Knuckles as the carriage was opened. “Shall we?”

“We might as well help the ladies out, Knuckles,” said Sonic. “It is the chivalrous thing to do.”

“As you say, sire,” said Silver as he and the other knights climbed out of the carriage and assisted the women out onto their feet, with Sonic taking Twilight’s hand in his by the fingertips and bowing as she climbed out.

“My lady,” he said, looping her arm under his again as the group entered. After a short fanfare, a guard stepped forward.

“Council of Harmony, students of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship and the Order of the Sacred Swords,” he read off a scroll before the group was allowed in. Once inside the castle’s main hall, the order was quite impressed. Then they saw a few more people gathering at the top of the stairs with Celestia. One had green skin, purple eyes and bright orange hair with a horn protruding from his forehead and was wearing pale green robes with holes in the back for his insect-like shell, and the first of the women was a Dragonborn girl like Spike and Smolder, but with blue hair, white horns and red eyes wearing a blue dress that looked like it could double as cloth armor. The other woman there was a mermaid like Silverstream with strong magenta eyes, deep purple hair and wearing a light fuchiaish gray dress, along with a crown that appeared to be made of feathers as well as a young girl with cyan eyes, arctic blue hair and wearing a pale-yellow dress with a strange anemone-like flower in her hair.

“Welcome, elite of Canterlot, to the Grand Galloping Gala,” said Celestia in a polite but booming voice. “This evening, I am pleased to announce that it shall not only be devoted to revelry and friendship, but also building bridges between we Equine-born and our allies, the Changelings represented by their King Thorax, the Dragonborn represented by Dragon Lord Ember and the Hippogriff-born of Mount Aris and Seaquestria represented by Queen Novo and her daughter, Princess Skystar. And of course, our newest allies from the great kingdom of another world; Camelot.” Sonic realized that might be a cue for him and walked up the stairs to the other rulers. “And thus, my friends, I am pleased to introduce to you King Sonic Pendragon of Camelot, Knight of the Wind.” The nobles surrounding the staircase gave a courteous round of applause with Sonic smirking at the admiration. After a minute, he raised a single hand as a sign for them to stop, which they did and he stepped up.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia, for your introduction,” said Sonic. “Nobles of Canterlot, I consider myself more a man of action than words, especially when my enchanted blade Caliburn here can do all the talking for me in desperate times if you understand my meaning.” That prompted a small chuckle from part of the crowd. “But I can assure you that if we can have peace between all of our peoples, and if we need to talk for it to happen, then let’s talk. And as long as all of our nations can support each other in times of need, then all the better.”  And at that, all the elites cheered and applauded at the young king. “Thank you. Thank you very much.” Ember bumped him on the shoulder and smirked at him.

“Nice,” she said. “You planned that, didn’t you?”

“Are you kidding me?” asked Sonic with a chuckle. “I didn’t even _know_ I had to give a speech tonight. That was all just a huge adlib.”

“Well, either way, I think you handled that pretty well,” said Thorax.

“Agreed,” said Novo. “And I must admit, for a surface-dweller, you’re actually quite handsome.”

“Well, mom always did say I was a handsome one, sire,” said Sonic. “But that ain’t got nothin’ on my speed.”

“And your skill with a blade, I assume,” said Celestia.

“Naturally,” said Knuckles, walking up and bumping his king on the shoulder. “He wouldn’t be king without it.”

“How’s that work?” asked Skystar.

“Well see, our parents were separated not long after we were born and out father left Caliburn embedded in an anvil in front of an old chapel,” said Sonic, slightly drawing his sword. “And as you can kinda see, engraved on the blade is a message; ‘Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise born King of Camelot’. I found him, pulled him out and here we are.”

“Well I’m afraid I’ll have to confiscate your blades, my lord,” said a guard approaching the group. “No weapons allowed in the main hall.”

“ _That seems rather ironic coming from the people walking around with the weapons and heavy armor,_ ” said a deep, humorous-seeming voice. Sonic was confused until he saw a picture in one of the stain-glass windows behind him moving.

“Okay, who’s there?” he asked. With that, the picture disappeared from the mirror and reappeared right near him. He was a pale man with ears a bit like Celestia’s, yellow eyes with red irises and black hair with a bright blue stripe in one of his temples and a white stripe on the other, as well as a thin long white goatee, and some small fangs. He was wearing a rather fancy-seeming but patchwork suit with a sand-colored ascot, red vest, and brown jacket, as well as a yellow glove on his left hand and pants with one leg being tan and the other lime green with white loafers on both feet. But what really set Sonic off was the fact that he had actual small wings protruding from his back, his left looking like it belonged to a bluebird and the right, a bat. “So what are you supposed to be, some sort of genie or something?"

“Genie?” asked the man. “Well, I don’t have light brown hair, but that can easily be changed.” Then he did, turning his main black hair to a nut-brown with a snap of his fingers.

“Whoa-wait, you know that song?” asked Manic.

“Doesn’t everybody?” he asked, changing it back and making an ornate cane appear in his right hand. “Now allow me to introduce myself; Discord, spirit of chaos and mischief at your humble service, my liege.” And thus he bowed to the king.

Sonic chuckled. “Still trying to get used to that,” he said. “Anyway um… rise Spirit Discord.” And thus he did. “Now then, what say we go partake of the festivities?”

“Not with your weapons, my lord,” said the guard. “Rules are rules.”

“Even when there may be a threat against the city and nation?” asked Shadow.

“I beg your pardon?” asked Celestia.

“Our cousin Morgana showed up the other day,” said Sonic. “She’s a sorceress, maybe even more magically inclined than you, Twilight. And if I know her, and if Dr. Eggman is here like we think he is, they might be getting ready to stage an attack against the city.”

“In short, either we have our weapons or this city falls,” said Shadow.

“I think my guard can handle itself,” said the guard.

“Oh, you’re Shining Armor’s replacement?” asked Sonic walking down to him.

“Yes sir,” said the guard, saluting. “Captain Knight Watch, at your service.”

“Well tell me then, Captain,” said Tails, pulling out a small metallic orange card with a button on it, which he then pushed. “Think you can take something like this?” Then he dropped the card on the floor and it instantly turned into an Egg Pawn with a machine gun in its hand, which spooked Knight Watch into jumping near to Silver. “Didn’t think so.” Then he stepped on a small tab with another button attached to the Egg Pawn’s foot, which prompted it to fold back up into a card and shoot back into his hand. “Eggman’s got a huge fleet of airships, each one with an assembly line on it cranking out dozens of these bots every day. We’ve been fighting them for years, and you just encountered them tonight. Who do you think wins here?”

“You raise an excellent point, sir,” said Knight Watch. “I’m sure you can handle them. And if not, Prince Armor’s seen this sort of strangeness several times. I’m sure he could handle it.”

“Speaking of whom, where is Armor anyway?” asked Silver. His question was answered when a few horns blared out from the doors, and the group saw Armor in the doorway wearing a red jacket and silver sash with a shield pin, along with Cadence wearing a beautiful white dress.

“Well, well, well, speak the name of Hades and he shall appear,” said Sonic as he walked over and shook his hand, then he gave a courtly bow to Cadence. “And Persephone as well, of course.” Armor just looked at him unusually, which the king caught. “It’s a figure of speech based on a mythology from our universe, kind of a long story.”

“Well, the night is young,” said Cadence. “We’ve got time.”

“True,” said Sonic.

“Well then, if you guys will excuse me, I’ll be at the buffet,” said Gallus as he left the group.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go get a drink,” said Shadow. “Take the edge off after the ride here.” And the team all separated into the main hall to mingle, eat and drink. Silver had claimed a table on the left side of the dancefloor and was looking through an old leather-bound journal with old notes in it when someone walked up and cast a bit of a shadow over him. He heard a man clear his throat and quickly closed the journal and hid it under a napkin to see an elf-man with blue eyes and hair as well as a small respectable mustache and a monocle over his right eye wearing a tux with a purple tie. On his arm was a young elf-woman in a white dress with pink hair and pink eyes.

“Good evening sir,” the man said. “Do you mind if we sit?”

“Be my guest,” said Silver as he levitated a plate at the buffet and filled it up with hor d’ouevres before floating it over to him. “Hungry?”

“No thank you,” the man said. “Say, are you not one of King Pendragon’s knights?”

“Yes sir, indeed I am,” said Silver. “Name’s Silver, but my title is Galahad.”

“Fancy Pants,” the man said, shaking his hand. “And this, of course, is my wife Fleur Dis Lee.”

“I must ask, Sir Galahad,” said Fleur. “What is that book you have there?”

“What, this?” asked Silver, pulling out the journal. “Oh, it’s just notes for a quest that we and the other Knights of the Round Table are working on.”

“Excuse me, but did you say Knights of the Round Table?” asked Fancy. “I thought you called yourselves the Order of the Sacred Swords?”

“That’s just the guys here and even then, that’s not all of us,” said Silver. “Altogether, including us, there’s more like… uh, let’s see, we got Blaze, then there’s Galehaut, then Burtalack, Dinadan, and Antoine… wow. two hundred and four knights, in total at the Round Table.”

“My word,” said Fancy. “Must be a very large table.”

“That's just scratching the surface. I've heard Camelot's court-mage Merlin say that the Table is big enough to seat 1600 men,” said Silver. “Anyway, this notebook contains clues to the resting place of one of the most powerful relics in the history of the multiverse; the Holy Grail.”

“Holy Grail? Well, that just _sounds_ incredible,” said Fancy. “Tell us, what exactly makes it so special?”

“It’s said that the Grail was the cup used by a great religious figure at his last meal before execution by a military group of rival religious beliefs,” explained Silver as he opened the book. “It’s also said to have caught the blood of said figure when he was executed by being nailed to a large wooden cross. Legend says that any who drink from the Grail will be granted eternal life.”

“Wait, as in-?” began Fancy, adjusting his monocle.

“Immortality, yes,” said Silver, before something struck him, and he chuckled. “What am I doing? This is strictly a knight’s matter. I shouldn’t have even told you what it was.” And with that, he closed the journal again and slipped it into his jacket. “I hope you’ll excuse me, sir.” Then he left to another table. Once there, Rarity walked over and sat with him. “You heard all that, didn’t you?”

“I’m afraid I did,” she said sitting down with a glass of wine in each hand, one of which she passed to Silver. “But I must say I’m quite interested as well. Tell me, if I were to drink from the Grail, would I still retain my beauty in my old age?”

“Well, the legends are still a little spotty about the Grail’s effects aside from the whole immortality thing, but supposedly the grail rests in a temple in a canyon in the shape of a crescent moon,” said Silver. “Only problem is, no one knows where that canyon is, but hey that’s never stopped us in any of our other quests. I mean heck, I just stumbled onto Sang-Real here out of blind luck and somehow, he deemed me worthy to hold him.”

“Your heart was virtuous, Silver,” said the blade. “You more than deserved to wield me and don’t let any other tell you any different.”

“I don’t plan to, old friend,” said Silver. “Well Rarity, as long as you’re here, would you care to help me go over the notes, see if we can make sense of them?”

“Well, I’ll do what I can,” said Rarity. “Though for something like this, you might want Twilight’s help more than mine.”

“Well, I’d ask her but… well, she seems preoccupied with the good king,” said Silver, pointing over to show Twilight talking with Sonic at the bar.

“…and I swear I have no idea how, but Amy always manages to find me no matter where I am or how fast I’m going,” he said.

“Man, that sounds annoying,” said Twilight.

“Oh, like you wouldn’t believe,” said Sonic. Then a familiar piece started playing and a group moved to the dancefloor. “Tell me, do you dance much?”

“Not a lot, but I basically know how to,” said Twilight. “Do you?”

“No, my feet prefer to run than dance, but I pick things up just as fast,” said the king, bowing to her and extending his hand. “Will you permit me?”

“I usually don’t,” said Twilight.

“Nor do I,” said Sonic.

“In that case, I permit you,” said Twilight taking his hand.

“You’ve made me very happy,” said Sonic.

“But I’m already sad,” said Twilight. “In a minute, I’ll make fools of both of us.”

“Correction; in a minute, everyone’s gonna be wanting our approval,” said Sonic confidently as he led the princess to the dance floor. “And I’d be happy to lead and teach you personally on the fly.”

“Why not?” asked Twilight as they moved to a waltz position in the center of the floor. But then Sonic slid about a foot and a half away from her, confusing her.

“Silver, if you would?” asked Sonic. Silver quickly generated a circle on the floor around the two. “Just follow my lead, sire.”

**(Okay, for this next sequence, you’re gonna need to do some work; first look up a Project Diva video of Miku and Kaito dancing to WhiteFlame’s “Cantarella” and then look up zoozbuh’s English cover of the Grace Edition of the same song, then mute the actual dance video and just listen to the lyrics from the English video. Got all that? Good. Now do it.)**

The two then began to dance around the circle, stepping and twirling before Sonic flipped out a wireless mic and attached it to his face and started singing as they danced.

 _Sonic: My wandering gaze_  
Is returned by you  
In this closed-up, private little world

 _You’re oblivious,_  
Or so you’d like to think,  
But this spark is undeniable

On the side, Manic quickly slipped Twilight a similar mic and she attached it to her face, understanding that there would be a close harmony in a minute.

_Both: My burning heart  
Ignites with desire_

_I slowly edge close,  
While hiding this fire_

_Closer still,_  
You let out a sigh  
Your breath leaves me in a trance!

“-in a good way,” Sonic quickly mouthed to her as they touched their hands together and swayed.

 _Both: Even though this seems like ordinary love,_  
I’ll lay- my trap, so you fall for it  
I will make sure that even in the smallest cracks,  
I won’t- leave any footprints behind~

The other knights and nobles looked on in wonder as the king danced when Sonia remembered something and quickly moved to the orchestra stand.

 _Sonic: You thought you could see_  
Through my subtle words  
But your guard is broken nonetheless

Then a waiter that Sonic didn’t recognize handed him a glass of wine to offer Twilight, and he nearly did, but he recognized a smell in it to be some sort of poison, but decided to incorporate it into the lyrics as he slid the drink away in a table.

 _You don’t hesitate_  
To drink down every sip  
Deadly poison, I know all too well

The guards, quickly getting the picture, apprehended the waiter and let the two continue to draw the crowd’s attention.

_Both: There is nowhere  
For you to escape_

Sonic swiftly pulled a rust-colored scarf out of his coat and wrapped Twilight in it, spinning her out of it just as swiftly before he caught her and they continued.

_These rusted chains  
Will lock you in place_

_The more you fight,_  
The harder it gets,  
As time keeps ticking away!

 _Both: If we were to drift into a tangled for-_  
-rest with- no space left between us both  
I am sure that the scent of our passion and sweat  
Would be- too much for us to bear~!

Then the piano changed and started to get jazzy. Sonic noticed the timing and knew it could only be his sister tickling those ivories, and he was right; there she sat playing away as the two continued their dance, drawing more and more attention with every step and twirl. Then Sonia stopped just as Sonic plucked a single white rose from a table and moved to hand it to Twilight as he sang, which she graciously accepted.

 _Both: Even though this seems like ordinary love,_  
I’ll lay- my trap so you fall for it  
I will make sure that I see all the smallest cracks…

_Sonic: And capture your heart!_

_Now we’ve drifted deep into this tangled for-_  
-rest with- no space left between us both  
I am certain the scent of our passion and sweat  
Will be- enough to get you ensnared~!

And thus the music continued for a few more minutes before the song ended on two beats and the two ended with Sonic holding Twilight in a dip. The two panted a bit before a large round of applause sounded out from the people around them, which Sonic took as a cue to bow to them.

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you,” he said as he bowed in several directions, with Twilight joining him in doing so. Once done, the music resumed and Sonic walked over to the guards who apprehended the waiter, one of whom Sonic recognized as Gladius from a few weeks ago, to check the situation.

“So what’s the story?” asked Sonic. Shadow had taken a sample of the wine with a dropper and tasted a single drop of it, chuckling when he recognized the taste.

“Hemlock,” said Shadow. “An incredibly potent though rare poison. One drop and the target can begin to experience partial paralysis, seizures and the like. Anything beyond that, and we’d need a new grave in the cemetery.”

“Then why weren’t you affected?” asked Sandbar.

“Because with _my_ healing factor, I can overcome any sort of drug instantly,” said Shadow. “As opposed to Sonic, who tends to take a little longer in that department.”

“Could you possibly have phrased that any worse, Shadow?” asked his master.

“Probably, but I do have _some_ respect,” said Shadow.

“Still, we’re stuck with the problem of who hired someone to poison Princess Twilight,” said Gladius.

“Well, I dunno about you guys,” said Manic walking over with a Scotch on the rocks in his hand. “But I got a pretty square bet it’s that guy.” Then he pointed over to the bar to indicate Blueblood, and the crazy thing was that his finger looked fine, not broken as Knuckles had felt it. He was about to inquire about it but figured that elves like him could heal themselves with their magic.

“I doubt it,” said Armor. “Insulting you guys is one thing, I can expect that from a guy like him. But attempted murder? Even he’s too high-up for that.”

“How about framing someone else for attempted murder?” asked Shadow. Armor thought for a second.

“Maybe that,” he said. “Either way, for now, we try not to raise any suspicion around him. Once we have concrete evidence that he might be behind this, then and only then do we accuse him.”

“Is this concrete enough for ya?” asked Manic, pulling a small flask of hemlock out of his jacket. And it looked like it was covered in fibers very similar to those in Blueblood’s jacket.

“How did you get that?” asked Cadence.

“Found it over by the bar, along with what looked like gold residue, clearly the remains of a bribe,” he replied, putting the bottle on the table. “Either way, I think this is proof enough that he’s the culprit.”

“I would be inclined to agree,” said Sonic, grasping a wine glass and knocking it with a spoon, drawing the attention of some of the people. “Excuse me. Can I have everyone’s attention please?” He promptly received it from everyone there, including Ember, Thorax, Novo, and Skystar. “Thank you. Now then, I’m sure you all noticed that little tip that Princess Twilight’s drink might’ve been poisoned in the song. I’m sorry to say that we have confirmed these suspicions, but the good news is that my order has found a suspect. The bad news is, I believe he might have personal relations with some of the people in this room. Either way, certain evidence has led us to believe that the culprit is none other than… Prince Blueblood!” The orchestra gave a dramatic sting as all the nobles looked to the prince. Surprisingly, none of them even gave a facsimile of shock, all just appearing to accept that he did it.

Blueblood just chuckled. “Oh, my lord, you’re delusional really. How could you believe _I_ was the one who tried to kill her?” he asked.

“This,” said Sonic, showing him the bottle and a curious copyright on the bottom. “Copyright; _Blueblood_ Pharmaceuticals.”

The prince scowled. “I knew I shouldn’t have put that on there! Dumb, dumb, dumb!” he said, smacking himself in the face. Then something struck him. “Wait. I _didn’t_ put that on there. How did you know that was mine?”

Sonic smirked. “Because you just told me, genius,” he said.

“Wait, what?” asked the prince.

“Reverse psychology,” said Sonic. “An old adversary used it on us one time. I figured it was high time we turned the tables on someone who tried something like this, don’t you?” Knuckles chuckled and gave him a fist-bump.

“Nice one, man,” he said. Blueblood just growled and walked over.

“You dare to impugn my honor, rat?” he asked, prompting a gasp from the crowd. “Exactly what proof have you that you, in fact, do come from royal blood?”

“Alright Blueblood, that does it,” said Armor, walking over. “I think you’d better just go along with the guards.”

“Stay out of this, child,” said Blueblood, batting his hand away. “You don’t even deserve your title as prince. Nor does that worthless sister of yours.”

“Oh, so just because I didn’t go to the Gala with you, you call me worthless?” asked Twilight. “Gee, that’s nice. Not!”

“I said stay out of this, you worthless wench!” said Blueblood, slapping Twilight across the face causing everyone to stop what they were doing and gasp as Twilight fell into Cadence’s arms.

“That. Does it,” said Sonic, taking off one of his gloves and slapping Blueblood with it.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked arrogantly.

“Defending my friend,” said Sonic, dropping the glove on the floor in front of the prince. “You’ve insulted me, my homeworld, my bloodline, and my friends. I won’t put up with it anymore. And to that end, I challenge you to a duel on the field of honor. Accept and we fight to the near-death. Deny and be labeled a coward. The choice is yours. Just pick up the glove.”

“I say I choose not to fight,” said Blueblood. “As a member of the Royal Family, I have diplomatic immunity.”

“Correction; you _had_ diplomatic immunity,” said Celestia, walking over with Luna. “I heard the whole thing, and as penance to teach you the error of your ways, as the rulers of Equestria, Luna and I hereby revoke your diplomatic immunity, and order you to do battle.”

“Even if you still _did_ have it, it wouldn’t matter,” said Sonia. “According to our Knights’ Code of Chivalry, you have no real option; as Sonic said, either fight or be labeled a coward,” Blueblood growled but looked around to see the whole ballroom watching him intently, pressuring him to fight. At last, he stooped down and picked up Sonic’s glove from the ground.

“I accept,” he said, handing him the glove. “Where shall it be and when?”

“Western Courtyard,” said Sonic. “Midnight. Be there with a blade and we’ll settle this like men.”

“And may the best man win,” said Blueblood, unbelievably egotistical as he walked away.

"I intend to." Sonic scowled. Armor walked over to him with a concerned look on his face.

“Are you sure that was wise, Sonic?” he asked. “Blueblood may have an ego the size of the moon- No offense, Princess Luna,”

“ _Some_ taken,” she returned.

“Fair- but he is actually quite fair with a sword,” Armor continued. “Are you sure challenging him was wise?”

“Shining Armor, be real with me here;” said Sonic, moving his hand to Caliburn. “Who do you think stands a better chance in this duel? Him?” Then he locked onto a large block of ice nearby, shot over to it and slashed so fast that it looked like he only swung Caliburn once before balancing him against the table. “Or me?” Then with two claps, the ice broke on several seams and revealed a glorious ice sculpture of Princess Celestia with a huge pair of feathered wings behind her back, absolutely precise down to the most minute detail. Everyone just looked on in wonder and awe at the sculpture as Sonic grabbed a napkin and wiped Caliburn’s blade clear of the water from the ice.

“You make a fantastic point,” said Armor. “I instantly feel sorry for Blueblood. For once.”

“As you should,” said Sonic confidently. As well he should’ve been, but little did he or anyone else know that tonight was about to go spiraling into insanity.


	16. It's Time to Duel!

The hour of midnight arrived and all the nobles and guests of the Gala, Sonic and his order included, gathered in the Western Courtyard to find a rather large battleground. The two combatants stared each other down and Sonic smirked at the snobbish prince, who still seemed to think he could win this duel with his eyes closed. Silver stood up on a block near the ledge and cleared his throat.

“Whereas Prince Blueblood has insulted King Sonic by insinuating that he and his order, family and friends are all unworthy of their titles, a duel is hereby engaged,” he said officially. “His Majesty, as the offended party, shall have choice of weapons.”

“I think you know what weapon I’d like for this duel, Sir Galahad,” smirked Sonic.

“I do, sire,” said Silver. “As per his order, this shall be a battle of swords. Knights, take your blades and shields, and don your armor.” They both proceeded to do so, Blueblood lifting a glimmering broadsword and a white shield with his insignia on it in gold as his squires strapped a suit of light blue armor that looked like it might as well have been made out of diamonds to his body.

“And you, ‘my lord’?” asked Blueblood, feigning his acknowledgment of Sonic’s nobility. “Where is your equipment?”

“Oh, I’ve got everything I need right here,” said Sonic, drawing Caliburn and replacing his crown with a spiky steel helmet. Blueblood just gave an insulting laugh.

“Just a sword and helmet?” he asked. “You might as well surrender now.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew Caliburn and Goswhit’s true power,” said Sonic as his sword started hovering, blade-tip pointed down towards him and spinning. Knuckles recognized what was going on and instantly got worried.

“Sonic, you can’t be serious!” he said. “The Sacred Force Armor? We haven’t tested that yet!”

“Then consider this a test,” said Sonic as Caliburn began spinning faster. “Besides, it’s a little too late now. Might as well. I call on the ancient spirits of the mystic realm of Camelot.” Then as Caliburn started glowing, Sonic quickly stuck his arms out horizontally and knocked his feet together. “Immortal Source! Sacred Force!” Then Caliburn stopped spinning and a blast of light shot from him and engulfed Sonic’s body, forming shimmering steel the same shade of gray as Caliburn’s blade with gold trim around his body as well as a flowing red cape falling from his shoulders. Then the light transformed Goswhit to be more form-fitting for his quills and a cobalt blue shield appeared on his arm. Then the light faded and Caliburn fell down into Sonic’s right hand, now encased in a heavy steel gauntlet.

But the blade wasn’t done yet; magic snaked through the handle and into Sonic’s armor, generating several sigils on his armor; one appeared as three stacked gold crowns in his helmet’s visor, another formed as a circular shape overlaid with weapons on his chestplate in white and the last manifested as an arrangement of his and the Order’s Sacred Swords printed in gold; Caliburn in the center with Blaze’s rapier Leviathan over it, then Sang-Real at Caliburn’s tip, Narsil and Anduril crossing behind the three blades, two images of Arondight on either side of Caliburn, angled to the tip and Galatine’s split form on the side extending from Arondight.

Sonic smirked as he raised his helmet’s visor to see Blueblood literally shaking in his boots. “Impressed yet?” he asked. “No? Well, check this out.” Then he pointed Caliburn at Silver and a beam shot from the blade’s tip, hitting all his knights’ shields and making the same gold imprint appear on them. Everyone was already in shock from the incredible light show, but they were just frozen in awe, including Twilight, who was actually blushing bright red at the sight of Sonic becoming a literal knight in shining armor.

Blueblood quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat. “Yes well, it’s um… It’s alright I suppose, but what do you believe really shows one’s prowess on the battlefield; flash or skill?”

“He said while wearing a suit that may as well be made of diamonds,” Manic said to Pinkie.

“I heard that!” yelled Blueblood.

“I know,” said Manic. “I meant for you to.”

“Either way,” said Silver moving down from his box. “Are both knights ready?”

“Yes!” they both said, slamming their helmets shut.

“Right then,” said Silver. “The man who is challenged gets the first attack, so Prince Blueblood… in your own time.” At that, Blueblood quickly charged at Sonic and went in for a slash, but Sonic moved so quickly away from his sword, that it almost looked like Blueblood got in the hit, when in reality, Sonic was behind him.

“Where ya aimin, dugong?” he asked with a smirk. This instantly prompted Blueblood to start to look over his right shoulder, but just before he could, Sonic spun around and smacked him in the side with his shield, knocking him off a bit before he attacked again, going in for a thrust. But Sonic just caught the blade on Caliburn’s and threw it out of his hand, just before he grabbed the prince by the arms.

“Ohh no…” he said in simple fear.

“Ohh yes,” Sonic smirked and kicked him in the side of the face, somehow knocking him into the air. Then Sonic grabbed Blueblood’s sword and jumped up even higher than him, kicking him back down into the battleground, leaving a fairly-sized impact.

“Alright Sonic, give it back!” called Sonia referring to the enemy sword he still had in his hand.

“Okay fine,” he sighed and threw the sword down like a javelin, embedding it right down near Blueblood’s head. Then Sonic came flying down with a slash which Blueblood somehow managed to block with his shield before drawing his sword out of the ground and slashing at Sonic’s neck, but it just twanged off the armor, barely even scratching it. Quickly the two got back up with the two slashing and countering each other’s attacks blow for blow until they both knocked each other to opposite ends of the field and Blueblood took the opportunity for some trash-talk.

“Ha! Well played for a rat,” he said. “But I think we both know that I am not only your superior in this field or in society. I! Am! Your!” Suddenly… “Why can’t I move my everything?” And in fact, Blueblood’s armor had locked, rendering him immobile.

“Little trick I learned back home in Camelot,” said Sonic. “My court wizard Merlin taught me a spell that if you can touch your opponent’s armor, you can make it lock almost as if it’s rusted shut. It also works if you personally touch their weapon. Such as when I grabbed your sword.” Blue blood looked and saw a small rune on the blade of his sword where Sonic had put his thumb when he threw it back. “Of course when you do that, it takes a while to take effect and it’s purely temporary, but as you can see, it has very powerful effects.” Suddenly Blueblood’s armor unlocked, allowing him to move again and he managed to gain a small amount of ground before Sonic quickly slashed straight to the side, knocking Blueblood into a nearby tree and knocking his sword to the ground near his hand. Then Sonic, honestly pretty tired, walked over and planted his boot on his enemy’s sword.

“Concede,” he said, pointing his sword at his adversary’s neck. “Yield to me, and this battle goes no further.” Blueblood was actually starting to sweat inside his armor and he was getting scared as he looked around as he saw no other option but surrender.

“Fine,” he said quietly.

“So they can hear you!” growled Sonic, knocking Blueblood’s helmet off with his blade before he pointed the tip of it at Blueblood’s _eye_.

“Alright, alright, I concede!” said Blueblood so the audience could hear him and he raised his hands in defeat. Sonic smirked as he moved Caliburn away and the crowd began to cheer.

“Power down,” said Sonic and at that command, the armor disappeared, but his shield remained, now gaining three slots, each with one seal; the blade arrangement shifted to the bottom, the sword-laden circle appeared in the upper right on a red background and his crowns appeared in the upper left on a green background. Then he put his shield on his back and sheathed his sword as he moved over to the others who all hugged, high-fived and congratulated him. Then Gladius and Knight Watch walked over to Blueblood who had just removed his armor and took him by the arms.

“Wait, what’s going on?” he asked.

“I must apologize, Blueblood,” said Celestia. “But for the crime of attempted regicide against Princess Twilight, I must sentence you to twenty years in the Canterlot dungeons.”

“What?! But-but-but- You can’t do this to me!” he yelled as the guards dragged him away. “I’m a prince! I have rights!” He kept kicking and whining like a spoiled child until the others couldn’t hear him anymore. Rarity gave a happy sigh at the sight.

“Damn, that had to have felt great,” said Silver as he walked over.

“Oh, you have no idea,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to see something like that for a long time now.”

“Y’know, all said and done, he actually _did_ give me a bit of a challenge,” said Sonic.

“Are you kidding me?!” asked Gallus excited. “You smoked that guy! I’ve never seen skills like that in my- you were being sarcastic, weren’t you?”

“Careful, he’s learning,” joked Sonic as everyone shared a laugh. Then Shadow saw something in the air a ways away from the cliff; something very thin and very fast. Then he put it together.

“Everyone run!” he yelled and pulled out Arondight. Sonic was confused until he saw the object as well and realized it was a missile.

“Do as the man says! Run!” he yelled and everyone quickly did run, except for Twilight and her group, who all got to watch Shadow blast a Chaos Spear out of Arondight and detonate the missile in the air before it could hit the cliff.

“What’s going on?” asked Twilight.

“Best guess?” asked Sonic as a large fleet of airships flew in, all of them bearing Eggman’s insignia and with decks covered in robots. “Eggman just declared war against you guys.”


	17. The Battle of Canterlot

The Egg Fleet hovered over Canterlot with Sonic and his knights looking on with scowls on their faces as Eggman walked out onto the main deck. Once on the front of his main flagship, a large hologram was projected from the front showing him to the people in all his glory. Sonic growled at seeing his nemesis like this but was also a bit confused to see that he was actually much skinnier than he was before. At least, he was confused for a moment but then he saw Morgana in the background and put it together that she used her magic to make him thinner.

“Citizens of Canterlot,” his voice boomed over the speakers. “I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik, known to my enemies as Dr. Eggman; renowned roboticist and conqueror of my home-world. But from now until the moment you die, you are to address me as… Caesar!” Then robots dropped from the ship into the courtyard and around the city, weapons ready. “It is important that you cooperate with my Egg Centurion enforcement androids. If you resist, you face only two options; roboticization and enslavement or death.”

“How could anyone be so cruel?” asked Fluttershy as his robots walked down the road, grabbing citizens and clapping them in shackles.

“I’ve heard he wasn’t always like this,” said Sonic. “He used to work for our Uncle Chuck as a scientist and medical doctor. But when Unc figured out he was planning to his robotisizer for military purposes, he fired him. Since then, he’s been intent on conquering our planet with his robots.”

“And now it looks like he’s decided to move onto Equestria,” said Sonia.

“Not while I’m still breathing,” said Twilight, magic flowing around her hands.

“That’s what I like to hear,” said Sonic, drawing Caliburn as all his knights followed suit and drew their weapons. “Knights of the Sacred Swords! Charge!”

“For freedom!” yelled the knights as they raced for the city and started slashing the robots up. Quickly, Twilight and her friends ran in and joined to save the civilians, with Spike flying over the area on a pair of purple and green wings in his back and blasting fire at most of the robots. From the Egg Carrier, Eggman was looking out on the city with a scowl as he watched his robot-tracking software bleep the robots off left and right.

“What the hell is going on down there?” he asked. Morgana pulled out a scrying orb, similar to the one Knuckles used to call Merlin, and saw Sonic and the others slashing the robots to scrap metal.

“It would appear my cousins and their knights are resisting,” said Morgana. “As well as some of the locals.”

“Well then,” said Eggman. “I’d say that’s more than grounds to blast the city off the mountain.”

“No,” said Morgana. “We want a solid foothold. We keep the city, not its people. Besides, I can handle Sonic myself.” Then she teleported off the ship and appeared among the Centurions to fight her cousin. When Sonic saw her, he smirked and charged but she caught him on a magic barrier.

“I thought you would’ve joined Eggman, Morgana,” he strained. “I just wish Uncle Chuck could see what’s become of you.”

“He’s an old fool,” growled Morgana. “Honestly even if he did know, he’d never understand.” Then she blasted him away, knocking him into some people who gave him an idea, specifically Thorax and Ocellus.

“Of course,” he said. “Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

“Think of what?” asked Thorax.

“Just give me the biggest and most convincing dragon forms you can!” said Sonic as he ran off back into the fight. “Both of you!” Thorax quickly understood and suddenly, green fire surrounded him before a large red dragon appeared in his place, roaring into the sky and terrifying the Centurions into running away back to the Fleet on jetpacks.

“It’s no use!” yelled Silver as he surrounded them in his aura, making them stop dead in the air. “Take this!” Then he clenched his fist and the Centurions were instantly crushed into indiscernible scrap metal, then he brought them all together into a large scrap-metal ball in the air, aiming it at the Egg Fleet. “Get out of this world, Eggman! Meteor Smash!” Then he swung his hand down, making the ball fall through the fleet like an enormous asteroid, crashing ships into it in huge explosions that echoed into the air as giant fireballs with every impact, illuminating all of Silver’s burn-scars which reminded him even more of the living hell his time was. And about Blaze, and how her dimensional warp from absorbing Iblis wiped all prior memory of him from her mind.

Having seen that, Morgana simply teleported away back to the bridge of the Egg Carrier, extremely worried. After that, Thorax turned back to normal and marched over to the ledge and looked out at the Egg Carrier, along with Ember and the princesses, Shining Armor, and Sonic and the others.

“Hear us well, Dr. Eggman!” Celestia thundered in a loud voice. “That was our response to your declaration of war! Know this; if you dare attack my subjects again, you will suffer the consequences.”

“We’ll see about that, my dear,” Eggman said over the loudspeaker as he aimed his ship away from the city and flew away with all the battleships he had. “Oh, and by the way, I’ll just be taking this as a souvenir.” Then suddenly a blue streak shot through and grabbed Twilight, before stopping near Eggman and revealing itself to be a blue robot that looked very similar to Sonic, except it had burning red eyes in black pits, a blank metal mouthplate and a rocket thruster on his back and a plasma cannon in his chest.

“Metal Sonic?” asked Shadow, honestly underwhelmed. “Really doctor? You’ve had to rebuild that thing so many times I can’t even count anymore. Not to mention all the times he’s stabbed you in the back.”

“True, the past models have had some… eh, issues in their programming,” said Eggman. “But for this model, I’ve installed a special feature; a soft-reboot defiance kill-switch. With it, if Metal Sonic even _thinks_ about betraying me, he instantly reboots as a perfect soldier.”

“While I will admit this thing is an incredible device,” said Twilight, her hand still burning with magic. “It can’t stop me.”

“No,” said Metal as he pulled a small leather collar out of his torso. “But this will.” Then he snapped it around Twilight’s neck and her magic instantly disappeared.

“What the-?” asked Sonic before he saw yellow runes appear on the leather and recognized it. “You kept your restraining collar, Morgana?” Then his witch cousin appeared, hovering near Eggman.

“Naturally, cousin,” she said. “I was saving it for that old fart Merlin, but your girlfriend here will do too.” Twilight blushed.

“I’m not his girlfriend!” she said.

“Pfft! Oh please,” said Morgana. “I heard that this whole duel was to defend your honor. No knight does that for a woman unless he feels some sort of attraction to her. After all, that’s what Lancelot did on more than one occasion for Guinevere.”

“Wait, what?” Rainbow asked Shadow, confused.

“Different Lancelot, I’ll explain later,” he answered, referring to his counterpart in Arthurian legend. “And as much as it pains me to admit it, Twilight, Morgana does actually have a point; Sonic wouldn’t have offered to duel for you if he didn’t feel some sort of attraction to you.”

“And I myself would be lying if I said that weren’t true,” blushed Sonic, scratching the back of his head. “But hey, you can’t blame me. You’re real cute, Twilight.” Twilight was pretty surprised but smiled and blushed herself.

“And exactly how far are you willing to go to save her, Sonic?” asked Eggman cruelly. Sonic narrowed his eyes but looked at Silver, who quickly got what he was getting at, and looked straight at him with a neutral look on his face.

“ _That’s a terrible idea,_ ” he thought to his king.

“ _Which is the only kind of idea we’ve got left. Besides, they’ll never see it coming,_ ” Sonic thought back smirking. Silver rolled his eyes, but his hand started glowing.

“As you command, my king,” he said. Then a spot in Sonic’s chest started glowing the same cyan along with his eyes and mouth and he started gritting his teeth.

“Okay, this hurts more than I thought it would,” he said.

“What does?” asked Morgana, confused.

“This,” said Silver as he violently pulled his hand up and a bright blue light shot out of Sonic’s eyes before coming together in Silver’s aura as what looked like Sonic in a white robe just before his body slumped to the ground face-first.

“GAH! Christ man, how about a little warning before you rip my soul out?!” he asked in an echoed voice.

“Hey, you wanted me to do this dude, don’t put all the blame on me,” said Silver. “Anyways Eggman, I think this answers your question; he’d forfeit his immortal soul to save anyone.” Eggman just sat there on the ship with a disturbed and disgusted look on his face, as did Morgana and Metal Sonic.

“Uh… O-okay, you can- you can just have her back,” said Eggman waving his hand to Metal who promptly flew out to the ledge, placed Twilight down on it, removed the collar and flew back to the ship which promptly flew away. Then Silver floated Sonic’s soul back into his body whereupon he took a deep breath before jumping back to his feet.

“HO~ ly shit!” he said as he gripped his stomach. “Ugh. Okay. We are _never_ doing that again.”

“Agreed,” said Silver, gripping his head. “That actually takes a lot more psychic energy than I feel in the need to spend most of the time. I’m gonna need a _loooong_ meditation break once we get home.”

“I honestly think I just need a nap,” said Shadow. “I was not expecting Eggman to show up like that.”

“Well, odds are that soul thing scared them enough that they won’t want to attack again any time soon,” said Sonic.

“But what if Morgana figures out how to do that and makes it permanent?” asked Twilight.

“Pfft! Come on Twilight, Morgana’s crazy but she’s not _that_ crazy,” said Sonic. “Trying to do something like that would probably kill her.”

“Well, either way, I think we’ve all had enough drama for one night,” said Knuckles. “I vote we go home. All in favor?”

“Oh please yes,” said Rarity.

“I was hoping someone would suggest that,” said Shadow.

“I am going to sleep for a week,” groaned Tails.

“Well then,” said Sonic. “Shadow, if you would?”

“On it,” said Shadow. “Chaos Control!” And with that, they quickly teleported back to Ponyville.

Meanwhile, on the Egg Carrier, Eggman and Morgana were still blankly staring at the monitor, frozen there from seeing Silver literally rip Sonic’s soul from his body. “Did- Did you know he could do that?” asked Morgana.

“No,” said Eggman. Then he saw a beeping on the console. “What the-?” He quickly pressed the button and the screen changed to something else; a map of space including something very familiar to the doctor.

“The Death Egg?” he asked, looking at the GPS tracking of his orbiting battle-station. “How is that possible?! It’s still orbiting Mobius and that’s-” Then he realized something indicated on the map. “Just a galactic mile and a half away from this planet? Hmmm………”

**Talk about plot-twist, huh? Mobius and Equestria have been in the same dimension this whole time! Man, when Sonic and his guys figure that out, they are gonna be _so_ confused.**


	18. After the Gala

Upon returning to Ponyville from the Gala, everyone went their separate ways with Twilight, Spike, Starlight, and Sonic going back to the castle. Unfortunately, even after having had very little to eat or drink at the Gala, Sonic still found himself snapping awake late in the night with only one thing going through his mind at the time as he shot up to his feet.

“I have to pee!” he said and shot out of his room wearing only a pair of old black pajama pants. But he quickly got lost. “Oh cmon, a castle this huge, you’d think there’d be a sign or something for the bathroom!” Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw exactly what he just asked for; a sign pointing to the bathroom. “Huh. How the hell’d I miss that? What have I been doing the past two minutes? Questions for later, right now I gotta pee.” Quickly, he zipped toward the bathroom and opened the door to see Twilight in nothing but her light purple underwear, getting ready for a sudsy bath. Upon quickly noticing him, Twilight started to turn bright red.

Sonic just rolled his eyes. “ _Oh my god, this is such an anime cliché._ ” he thought. “Look, sorry about this, I thought you would’ve gone to sleep by now,” he said candidly. “I’m not even going to try and come up with an excuse for this other than that, but if I could just squeeze in here for a second-”

Unfortunately, Sonic couldn’t finish that thought as Twilight let out an embarrassed and angry shriek. “Get out!” she yelled.

“Hey will you relax, I said I was sorry!” said Sonic before she splashed him with a veritable tidal wave from the tub before throwing a few toys at his face. “Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!” Then she threw a small metal pan at his face which stuck for a second. “Ugh! Chaos, where did you even get this thing?!” Then he just fell down on his face again.

Quickly he stuck his head back up, eyes closed with his left hand over them and right hand outstretched. “Okay, you need to chill! Now listen; before you go all ‘Code Blue’ on me, let me just get a couple of points across,” he said. “One; during the war for Mobotropolis back home, Manic and I saw Sonia in her underwear so many times, I’m honestly surprised we’re not dead right now.” At this point, he cracked one of his eyes open a smidge. “Like seriously. She wore literally _the_ hottest white lingerie I have ever seen. I mean if it were on anyone other than her, I’d think that but since this is my sister we’re talking about here, it was kinda blech.” Then he quickly closed his eye again and continued. “Two; and this is my actual main-point, why do you girls freak out so much about guys seeing you in your underwear when you usually wear swimsuits built the exact same way?”

“Well, because our underwear isn’t meant to be looked at,” said Twilight. “It’s just a huge breach of courtesy to look at people in their underwear.”

“So? Do you honestly expect me to believe Spike and Armor didn’t use to parade around in their underwear when you were younger?” asked Sonic. “A person’s house is his castle, in some cases quite literally, and people can do whatever they want in their castles.” At that argument, Twilight relented.

“I- Wow, I- I literally can’t argue with that,” she said.

“Yeah, I tend to have that effect on people,” said Sonic. “So… can I look now? I seriously need to get in here to pee.”

“Y-yeah sure,” said Twilight, still a bit embarrassed but relenting. “Just… Don’t look until I’m in the tub, okay? I still need to take this off and I just-”

“Say no more,” said Sonic moving his hand but not opening his eyes. “I honor the terms of our debate, but our code of honor says we knights can’t look upon a naked maiden unless in an intimate relationship. Which, now that I think about it, is actually a loophole Knuckles actually used to pretty great effect with the whole Burtalack situation.” Then he opened his eyes and looked at the uncovered princess, starting to blush at the sight. “ _Holy crap. So glad I made that argument._ ” he thought. Then he noticed Twilight was looking at his stomach and turning brighter pink. He looked at himself and saw he had toned six-pack abs and strong biceps and smirked. “See anything you like, princess?” he asked.

Twilight just turned brighter red and tried to calm down by gently slapping her cheeks. “Y-You can’t just say stuff like that, Sonic,” she said. “Especially not with your title.”

“Alright, alright sorry,” he said moving past her to the toilet. “What can I say? King though I may be, I’m a shameless flirt.”

“Yeah, I’m just getting that,” said Twilight as she moved to remove her bra. “Why though? Don’t you have a queen to get back to in Camelot?”

“Ha! Are you kidding? I’ve never met anyone with a personality that could mix safely with mine,” said Sonic. “And trust me on that; I’ve had like, three past romances and none of them really worked out.”

“Does that include that girl Amy you talked about in Burtalack’s story?” asked Twilight as she climbed into the tub under all the bubbles.

“No way,” said Sonic finishing up and turning to her. “If I could think of a phrase to describe her, it would most certainly be ‘obsessive fangirl’.”

“Heh. I think I see why you don’t get along with her,” said Twilight.

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” said Sonic. “Anyway, I’ll be up early tomorrow so don’t be surprised if breakfast is already on the table when you get there. How do you take your coffee? Y’know, just for reference.”

“Cream and three sugars,” said Twilight as he left. “Thanks, Sonic.”

“No prob,” he replied. “G’night.” And with that, he left and zipped back to his room, promptly falling asleep.


	19. The Court of Camelot

The next morning, Twilight indeed found that Sonic had made breakfast, but he had also invited the others, including the students, over to eat as well, which they all did without incident thankfully. But then Sonic got to the meat of the matter and stood.

“Alright guys, let’s get down to brass tacks,” he said. “The reason I’ve called you all here today, aside from breakfast-”

“Which was just amazing by the way, Sonic,” said Knuckles scraping his teeth with a toothpick.

“Thank you- is to say that we’ve been putting it off for far too long,” said Sonic, drawing Caliburn. “The time has come for us to undertake our greatest quest yet!”

“You mean-?!” asked Shadow.

“Indeed, Sir Lancelot,” said Sonic, placing Caliburn’s blade-flat on his shoulder. “The quest for the Holy Grail shall finally be ended!” Naturally, the knights roared in excitement at this before Silver realized something.

“Okay wait a minute,” he said. “Stop. Stop!”

“What?” asked Sonic. “Jeez Silver, you always gotta be such a buzzkill?”

“Are we seriously planning on going through with this ourselves?” asked Silver. “Without the rest of the Round Table? We’ll never make it. And even if we do, they’ll never forgive us for doing this without them.”

“Hmm. He makes a good point, Sonic,” said Tails. “Everyone else wanted to go with us when and if we figured out where the grail was, and you promised they would. If we go without them, you’re breaking your word.”

“Look guys, I’d like to bring the others along, really I would, but as long as we’re in this dimension, we’re going to have to go after the grail alone,” said Sonic.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that,” said Sonia. “Merlin’s an amazing wizard, no one’s denying that, but even _his_ powers can’t let him scry to other dimensions unless he’s actively _in_ that dimension.”

“What are you getting at, Sonia?” asked Sonic, confused.

“Actually, I have to agree with her,” said Tails, pulling out his handheld and pulling up a picture of the night sky. “I figured out the whole scrying thing too, so I took this picture to try and find familiar stars or constellations.”

“And?” asked Sonic. “Did you find anything?”

“Not just anything, sire,” said Tails as he projected the picture as a hologram and zoomed it in on a specific point to reveal a strange planet with several obvious biomes and hex-edged holes knocked out of it. “Look familiar?”

“The Lost Hex?” asked Knuckles. “How’s that possible? That’s supposed to be orbiting… Mobius.”

“Exactly,” said Tails, zooming in on the planet the Lost Hex was orbiting, revealing it to be Mobius. “We were never in an alternate dimension. Mobius was just 1.5 galactic miles away from us.”

“So Eggman’s machine just jumped us across the galaxy, not the Multiverse?” asked Sonic adding it up.

“So it seems,” said Tails. “He must’ve gotten the calibration of the device wrong and made it nothing more than a superpowered Chaos Control.”

“But if that’s true, then why did we turn into this when we went through the portal?” asked Knuckles gesturing to himself.

“That might’ve been this world’s magic fusing with the wavelength of the portal to try and make us look more local,” said Tails. “We just need to get home and have Merlin confirm our theories.”

“Or you could just ask him now,” suggested a voice. The order was spooked and moved for their swords until they saw that their visitor was none other than the wizard himself, but the trip to Equestria appeared to have given him elf-ears.

“Merlin? How the heck did you get here?” asked Sonic.

“It is as Sir Bedivere said, my king,” said Merlin. “It was a simple jaunt for me to get here from Camelot.” Sonic was still confused for a moment, but this changed to a smirk when he looked outside and saw a small crystal doorway in the courtyard.

“Well then, in that case, who’s up for a field trip?” he asked the group, who all agreed. “Alright then. Let us ride. To Camelot!”

“To Camelot!” said the knights as they all charged to the portal, hauling Merlin along with them. But once they went through, things got confusing. Sonic and the other swore they felt their muzzles, back-spines, and tails extend to their old length, but other than that they didn’t feel any difference. It got especially confusing when they all looked at each other; aside from their faces and bodies looking significantly more animal, they all looked almost exactly the same as they did before they went through, clothes and all which confused Sonic to no end.

“Merlin, what happened to Mobius since we’ve been gone?” he asked.

“Well sire, I’m afraid that will take a bit more explanation,” said Merlin, weaving magic around him. “You see, your father King Uther knew you would become a great hero even before you were born and wanted to make the world seem much more… well, cartoonish if you will. So he ordered that I use my magic to make the world appear to you and your friends as it did before you left. Once you did, however, the magic of Equestria that indeed fused with the vortex of Dr. Eggman’s machine released a wave undoing all my work.”

“Couldn’t you just redo the spell before you came to get us?” asked Knuckles.

“Unfortunately no,” said Merlin. “The spell was too complex to do a second time. Besides, Uther wanted me to break the spell myself when you were ready to understand it. I’d say becoming a Windwalker is more than a sign that you’re ready.”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Sonic. After having gotten all that out of the way, the group looked around at the great walled city with Mobian and human traders and citizens wandering the streets. Sonic smirked. “My friends,” he said. “I bid you welcome to the home of our order. Welcome… to Camelot!” At that, one of the citizens saw Sonic and the others and gave a broad smile.

“Hold your hands high, people of Camelot!” he yelled. “Our king has returned!” The other people looked and cheered as well.

“Hail King Sonic! Long live the king!” they chanted. Sonic stuck up his fist in pride at his subjects. Then another knight leaped into the area, but this one was another woman; a lavender cat to be exact. She had a white muzzle and a red bindi on her forehead under her silver helmet as well as burning amber eyes. Her armor was silver with a purple tint and an orange flame on the breastplate with a purple jacket and white catsuit with pink armored heels as well as a gold-hilted cup-hilt rapier fixed to her belt.

“Where have you been?” she asked bitterly, throwing up her visor.

“Nice to see you too, Blaze,” said Sonic, smirking at his knight’s behavior. “Can’t even let me have a hero’s welcome home, can ya?” Blaze just scowled at her king before her eyes fixed on Twilight and the other guests.

“And exactly who are these newcomers?” she asked, moving for her sword.

“Guests of mine from another planet,” said Sonic. “Royal guests. And I expect them to be treated with the respect you and the others treat me and the other royals on the table.” Then turning to said guests, he smirked. “Guys, this is another of my Sacred Sword Knights; Lady Knight Blaze Percival of the Eternal Flame.”

“Princess of the Sol Dimension,” said Blaze, drawing her sword. “And I can assure you that my Burning Blade Leviathan and I will protect ourselves and any who request it with all of our might.” And with that, she sheathed Leviathan and turned back to Sonic. “I’m sure the others at the table will be greatly excited to see you again.”

“I don’t doubt it,” said Sonic. “If anything, I’m kinda anxious to see them again too.”

“Well then,” said Blaze, her expression softening into a kinder look before gesturing up to the large castle. “Shall we?”

“Let’s,” said Sonic and with that, they all zipped up to the castle and entered the main hall to find the large Round Table surrounded by knights, one of whom seemed much larger than any of the others. “My knights, I am home!” Upon seeing him, the knights roared in cheers and welcomed him and the others to the room.

“Welcome home, my lord,” said one of them. “I was planning a big welcome for you, but you caught me a bit by surprise.”

**And since I know you're wondering, yes; said welcome would've constituted forcing the other knights to join him in the ever-popular "Knights of the Round Table" musical number from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".**

“Knowing you Dinadan,” said an African-sounding voice. “It would’ve been ridiculous and over-the-top.”

“No one asked you, Feirefiz,” said Dinadan, pointing to the knight in question, who resembled Blaze for the most part, but also had patches of tan fur like a lion’s and blue eyes with a scimitar strapped to his belt.

“Feirefiz? Ha! I didn’t expect to see you here, you old nut,” said Sonic walking over and patting him on the shoulder. “How’s Zazamanc?”

“Fine sire,” said Feirefiz. “As is my mother. As to answer your next question of ‘why am I here at the moment?’ well, Blaze asked me to come by and visit and you know I can’t reject an invitation from my lovely sister.”

“ _Half_ -sister, Goduka,” said Blaze as she sat down at the table across from him. “Honestly, how many times have I had to correct you on that?”

“Just once more, Blaze,” said Feirefiz. “As always.”

“Can we please get to the matter at hand, guys?” asked Sonic as he sat in his chair at the table.

“What matter would this be, my liege?” asked another knight, colored all green and wielding a large ornate ax.

“I’m glad you asked, Burtalack,” said Sonic as Silver slid him the journal. “The time has come for us to undertake our greatest quest to date, and finally find the Holy Grail!” The knights cheered at this and knocked their weapons together. “Alright! Stand down, stand down.”

“WOO-WOOOOO!” yelled one knight in excitement. **[Bors enthusiasm volume: IIII]**

“Bors- Bors, bring it down a notch,” said Manic.

“Woo…” said Bors in decreasing excitement. **[Bors enthusiasm volume: III- > II-> I]**

“Now! What say we begin?” asked Sonic before turning to the very large knight. “Sir Galehaut? The tablet.”

“As you order, my liege,” he replied as he stood up, dwarfing even Burtalack in his size and walked off.

“Sheesh, what kinda juice does that guy drink?” asked Applejack.

“It’s not that, AJ,” said Knuckles. “His mom’s a giantess, and as you can plainly see, that really carried over.”

“It truly did,” said Galehaut as he returned carrying a large stone in his hand which he then placed on the round table. “Now then my lord, since I can only assume you’ve brought our guests here with intent on having them join us in our search for the grail, shall we recount to them the legend?”

“An excellent idea, Galehaut,” said Sonic. “Essentially, the ancient prophet Jesus Christ, son of the Christian God, was condemned to death at the hands of the religiously rivaled Roman Empire and had a single final meal with his twelve apostles before his crucifixion whereupon a Roman soldier decided just being nailed to a giant wooden cross by his hands and left to bake in the sun wasn’t enough, so he stabbed him in the side with a lance.” He could see Rarity trying to hold down her breakfast after hearing that. “But as his blood spilled, a loyal Samaritan now known as Joseph of Arimathea used the chalice Christ drank from at his Last Supper, as it is known, to catch his blood and not let it touch the ground. Because of this, the Grail gained its great powers; if drank from, it would grant eternal life and if poured on a wound, the water would instantly heal it. Joseph, having used the grail to save the blood of the prophet, was entrusted with the Grail to protect with his life.”

“But after that happened, the Grail disappeared and was lost for one thousand years before being rediscovered by three knights of the First Crusade. Three brothers, to be exact; the Brothers Richard,” said Silver. “Two of these brothers wandered out of the ancient desert a century and a half after having found the Grail itself and began their long journey home to their country of France. Unfortunately, only one made it and before he died of _extreme_ old age, he imparted the story of him and his brothers in its entirety to a… Franciscan friar, right?”

“Yes, that’s it,” said Dinadan. Gallus just started chuckling. “And exactly how and why is that funny?”

“Not that, it’s just…” he said. “This sounds like the sort of thing you might tell your kids to give them something to live for.”

“What, you think it’s all made up?” asked Shadow. “That we’ve wasted our lives looking for the grail?”

“Well, no offense to your quest guys,” said Twilight. “But I’m having a hard time believing it myself.”

“Well, let’s see if this changes your mind,” said Blaze pulling a large old manuscript up onto the table. “This is the original copy of the manuscript in which the friar chronicled Sir Richard’s story. And let me tell you personally, getting my hands on it was no picnic.”

“Ugh. Are you still sore about that dragon, Blaze?” asked Sonic.

“About _and_ from, sire,” said Blaze bitterly. “I swear those claw-scars are never gonna heal.”

“Just be thankful I sent Galehaut there with you for back-up or you’d be dead,” said Sonic.

“So you’ve got a dusty old fifty-pound book, so what?” asked Gallus, quietly offending Twilight as he flew over and flipped through the manuscript. “I mean, does it tell you where the thing is?”

“I’m afraid not, but Sir Richard promised the friar that two markers that had been left behind would,” said Blaze pointing at the stone Galehaut had brought out. “That tablet, which we found in the deserts, is one of said markers. It more than proves that the legend is true.” Twilight walked over to the tablet and was confused to see part of a religious symbol and old text.

“What good is it, it’s basically split in half,” she said, looking at the rough break in the upper left-hand section.

“Just the same, we of the order have been searching for the grail for three months now,” said Sonic. “And we’re not stopping until we find it.”

“Besides, the inscription, when translated, is the real treasure of this tablet,” said Knuckles. “It’s early Latin. Mid-12th century, we’ve assessed. Thankfully, I know how to read it. Let’s see…” He skimmed the first bit before actually starting to translate. “‘…who drinks the water I shall give him, sayeth the Lord, will have a spring inside him welling up for eternal life. Let them bring me to your holy mountain in the place where you dwell. Across the desert and through the mountain to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon to the temple where the cup that holds the blood of Jesus Christ resides forever’. Pretty, innit?”

“Lovely,” said Rarity. “Vague, but lovely.”

“Wait, you said there were two markers,” said Ocellus. “Where’s the second?”

“Entombed with Sir Richard’s brother,” said Sonic. “Unfortunately, we’ve scoured all of planet Mobius to find it without luck. Every book, every reference, every map, every _thing_  even remotely related to the search for the Holy Grail, and we’ve turned up jack-squat. Not even the friar’s manuscript tells us where he was buried.” While he was talking, Twilight was skimming the journal and found something of interest; a portrait of a female bishop that appeared to be from a plate-glass window. Silver noticed her looking at the book and grew intrigued.

“Find something interesting, your highness?” he asked.

“More something familiar,” said Twilight, pointing at the picture. “I’ve seen this window before.”

“What, where?” asked Sonic, having heard.

“Canterlot Castle,” said Twilight. “Somewhere in the library wing, I think. We’ll have to ask Princess Celestia for access, but I’m sure she’ll give it to us.”

“Well, in that case, Lady Twilight, your sharp eye might be the key to completing a great quest that began almost three thousand years ago,” said another knight in a Middle Eastern Accent with a Turkish kilij sword. “We’re only one step away.”

“Speaking from my experience, Palamedes, that’s usually the point where the ground falls out from underneath your boots,” joked Sonic. Everyone shared a small chuckle at that before Sonic regained seriousness. “But in any case, we now know our next destination; the Canterlot Castle library. And from there, the Grail. I know the Knights of the Sacred Swords will join me, but who else?”

“I, sir,” said Bors.

“And I,” said Dinadan, followed by Galehaut, Burtalack, Feirefiz, and Palamedes.

“I’ll go too,” said Blaze. “I think you guys might need my help.”

“Alright then,” said Sonic. “Merlin, the portal!”

“With haste, my liege,” said the wizard as magic flew from his hands to a blank wall making a purple wooden door appear in the wall. Once it was there, Sonic opened it and walked through, instantly turning back into a humanoid and finding himself in a hallway in Twilight’s castle. The other knights quickly joined him, most of them turning into straight humans, but Blaze and Feirefiz became elves, Feirefiz having patches of Caucasian and African skin on his face.

“Alright boys,” said Sonic. “Let’s get to the capital.” And thus they made their way, to begin the end of the Quest for the Holy Grail.


	20. The Library

Upon seeing them ride up to the gates of Canterlot, the guards were surprised to see Sonic with such an entourage; not only was he accompanied by Twilight and her friends as well as seven other knights, one of whom (Galehaut) stood almost higher than the gates themselves, but some of them were flying red flags emblazoned with the same emblem of the Round Table that Sonic had on his shield.

“What business have you in Canterlot, King Sonic?” asked one of the guards on the wall.

“We believe a clue to an ancient artifact is hidden somewhere in the castle library,” said Sonic. “We would like to request Princess Celestia’s permission to investigate.”

“You’ll have to make that request in person, sire,” said the guard as the gate was opened. “But be quick; she’s discussing trade details with the Dragonborn in a few minutes.”

“Well hey if Ember’s here, maybe she’ll want in on the quest,” said Sonic. “Cmon guys.” So they entered the city and went up to the castle to find that Galehaut was just barely short enough to actually fit into the castle without breaking stuff. Once at the door, Sonic whispered to a guard to introduce them which he went through and quickly did.

“Presenting King Sonic and his Knights of the Round Table,” he said before the doors opened and they were all allowed in, Sonic smiling to see the royal sisters and Ember there.

“Your Highness,” said Sonic bowing. “I must apologize for this abrupt self-invitation.”

“No need, your majesty,” said Celestia. “I see you’ve brought more of your knights with you.”

“Indeed,” said Sonic, turning to them. “Allow me to introduce them; Lady Knight Blaze Percival the Steady of the Sol Dimension, her half-brother Sir Feirefiz the Honorable of Zazamanc, Sir Bors the Faithful, Sir Dinadan the Quick-Witted, Sir Galehaut the Large, Sir Burtalack the Clever and Sir Palamedes the Loyal.” The knights all then bowed.

“A pleasure to meet all of you,” said Celestia, but Sonic could tell Ember was getting a bit antsy.

“What are you guys even doing here?” she asked.

“We believe a clue to the greatest relic in our order’s history is hidden somewhere in the castle’s library,” said Silver. “We would like to request your permission to search it.”

“Of course,” said Celestia. “You have full access and all the nourishment you may require. Take as much time as you need to find what you seek.”

“Thank you, sire,” said Sonia as they left, following Twilight to a large library, filled with books and as Twilight theorized, the same window as in the journal.

“Alright nice,” said Sonic. “Now what?”

“Well for starters, I need to ask; what are those letters for?” asked Rainbow, pointing at the scroll at the bottom of the window to show three groups of letters; III, VII, and X.

“Those aren’t letters, Rainbow,” said Shadow, flying up on his rocket-boots. “They’re how the Romans wrote numbers; triple-I is three, V-double-I is seven and X is ten.”

“But what does it mean?” asked Starlight.

“I dunno,” said Tails. “It might be written down somewhere. Fan out, find anything with a reference.” Everyone did so, but then Rainbow noticed something about the columns nearby.

“Hey Sonic,” she said, pointing at one of them. “You might want to see this.” Sonic quickly zipped over and saw the Roman numeral for 3 in the column Rainbow was pointing at. At that, Sonic snapped his fingers.

“Of course!” he said. “We don’t need a book about the tomb. We need the tomb itself.” Everyone looked at him unusually. “Don’t you get it? The entrance to the tomb is somewhere in this library. Look; the three in the window corresponds with this column, the seven corresponds with that one and the ten… is… somewhere- everyone look for a ten in the structure somewhere.” Everyone quickly did so, but then Galehaut realized something and moved his large boot to see something very interesting.

“You know my lord,” he said. “This situation can’t help but remind me of a quote from Arnold Bennet.”

“What quote is that?” asked Sonic.

“‘It is easier to go down a hill than up’…” he paused to allow Sonic to understand.

“‘…but the view is from the top’,” he said, jumping onto Galehaut’s shoulder to see the ten in the floor, barely visible. “X marks the spot.” Quickly, everyone gathered around the center of the X just in time for Sonic to see loose, disintegrating concrete between them, which gave Knuckles an idea.

“Burtalack, your ax,” he said, pointing at the seam.

“With pleasure, Knuckles,” said Burtalack, stabbing the top of his ax into the seam and levering it out with his strength to reveal a hole in the floor.

“As the great Archimedes once said when he discovered the principle of displacement, ‘Eureka’!” said Tails.

“Okay, so… Who’s going down first?” asked Manic.

“Well first off, I say we see what’s down here anyway,” said Starlight.

“So what, do we throw Anduril down there?” asked Sonia. Everyone looked at her, which gave her the answer. “I was being sarcastic!”

“You got any better ideas?” asked Sonic. It was this statement that found him in the pit with a wrist-mounted flashlight and Twilight along with him. “This is not what I had in mind when I asked for other ideas!”

“You should’ve been more specific,” said Shadow. “Now quit griping and start looking.”

“Ugh fine!” said Sonic, turning on the flashlight to reveal what they had landed on was a pile of bones and skulls. “Well, at least we know we’re on the right track; We found the city catacombs.”

“Catacombs?” asked Rainbow.

“Ancient burial tunnels,” translated Tails.

“Oh,” Rainbow replied. “Gross.”

“Actually this one appears to be in pretty good shape,” said Sonic. “We’ll be back in a bit.” So he and Twilight wandered down the tunnels to find a wall covered in strange marks.

“What is this?” asked Twilight, not recognizing the work.

“Pagan symbols,” said Sonic. “Fourth or fifth century, I’d guess. 600 years before the Crusades. Christian knights would’ve dug their own tunnels about then, and I have a feeling we’ll find Sir Richard if we keep following these tunnels.” And as they followed the tunnels, they indeed found more bodies but also a bit of privacy, which let Twilight think.

“Hey so, really quick, what’s the deal with the Round Table?” she asked.

“Well you know how most standard rectangular tables have a head, which is usually filled by the most important person there?” asked Sonic.

“Yeah why?” asked Twilight.

“Well, since the Round Table has no head, it implies that everyone with a seat at it is equally important,” said Sonic. “It’s in our creed; ‘No one shall be greater than all’.”

“Ohh…” said Twilight, still thinking. “And also, when Eggman nearly took me prisoner last night-”

“Wait, that was last night?” asked Sonic jokingly. “Feels like a month ago.”

“I know, right?” asked Twilight. “Anyway, you said you actually did feel something for me, so-”

“Uh hang on, no offense, but I don’t really think now is the best time to talk about that,” said Sonic, bumping into a wall at the end of the tunnel which started to spill dirt. “What the-? Oh wait, I know this trope. Stand back.” Twilight quickly did so and Sonic charged the wall with his shield, knocking it down and landing Sonic face-first in some sort of bubbling pool. Sonic took a deep breath to try and identify it.

“What is it, water?” asked Twilight.

“Nope, petroleum,” said Sonic. “Maybe I should sink a well down here and retire after the whole grail thing.” Then he looked back and smirked. “Is what I would say if I didn’t have a kingdom to rule. Now come on and watch your step; this stuff is pretty slippery.” They kept walking down the tunnel until Sonic saw something bad.

“Ah rats,” he said, meaning that in the literal sense that there were rats in the room in front of them. “Think you can clear the way?”

“Easily,” said Twilight sending a wave of magic that scared them all off letting them walk through unscathed until they found a large antechamber filled to the waist with petroleum and stone coffins.

“Bingo,” said Sonic. “Christian symbols. Sir Richard must be here somewhere.”

“Look at these carvings and the scrollwork,” said Twilight, admiring the coffins.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” said Sonic before realizing something. “No but seriously, do that. If we don’t have picture proof, no one will ever believe us, even if we do find the Grail.”

“Oh, right,” said Twilight, producing a small camera that Tails gave her. Then she saw a large coffin at the head of the room, elevated slightly. “Hey, so if I were a gambling girl…”

Sonic looked and nodded. “Most likely,” he said as he waded over to it and brushed away the dust and cobwebs to see a carving of three knights and a chalice engraved on the side. “Bingo. Alright, open her up.” Twilight carefully used her magic to levitate the lid of the coffin onto another one to keep it dry as Sonic gazed on in awe at the knight’s skeleton, still in full armor with sword and shield on his chest.

“Hello, good sir knight,” said Twilight.

“This is it,” said Sonic. “We’ve found the second marker.”

“What?” asked Twilight. “What do you mean?”

“Look,” said Sonic climbing up and blowing the dust off of the upper right corner of the shield to reveal a painfully familiar engraving. “Recognize this?”

“The grail tablet,” said Twilight, understanding it. Quickly, Sonic reached into his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper and unwrapped orange crayon. “What’s that?”

“A rubbing Silver took of the tablet when he found it,” said Sonic. “He asked that when we found the rest of it, we complete the rubbing.” Quickly, Sonic set to work, rubbing in the upper left chunk of the tablet on the paper.

“This is incredible,” said Twilight. “We’ll go down in history for this.”

“Yeah, history of the whole _Multiverse_ ,” said Sonic, finishing and jumping back down, hearing a scrape from his back. Then he saw a spark fly over onto the ragged clothes of a corpse, lighting them on fire. “Oh no.” Quickly, he checked his own shield and saw a small scrap in the paint near the ledge-level. “No-no-no-no-no!”

“What?” asked Twilight.

“Another fun fact about petroleum; it’s highly flammable,” said Sonic, before taking another sniff. “And when combined with the methane gas I can smell in here, I have a bad feeling we’re going to go bouncing out of here like a pinball in a cannon, so you might wanna hang onto me.” Quickly, Sonic grabbed Twilight to his chest and moved to the entrance to the chamber, holding his shield facing the room. “Pridwen, can you tank a point-blank methane explosion?”

“I think we’re about to find out,” said the shield.

“Your shield talks too?” asked Twilight.

“Long story, I’ll explain later,” said Sonic, grasping her tighter. “Just hang on.” Then the fire from the clothes dropped into the petroleum and lit it on fire, thus igniting the methane into an explosion. Just before it hit Sonic, he shot his legs up and let the explosion shoot the two of them back to where they came from out the hole, which Silver quickly plugged with the tile, which had already been given new concrete which was instantly baked by the explosion. Sonic and Twilight, however, had been blown to one side, with the knights slowly surrounding their actually unconscious bodies.

“Do you think we should ask them what happened down there when they wake up?” asked Shadow.

“Probably not,” said Silver, pulling the tablet rubbing out of Sonic’s jacket. “Let’s just get these guys somewhere comfy where they can recoup.” And after picking them up with his telekinesis, the knights left the library to find somewhere for their leaders to rest.


	21. The Next Clue

It took about ten minutes for Sonic and Twilight to wake up after the explosion, and when they did, it was with splitting headaches and still in each other’s arms. They blushed madly for a minute before remembering the circumstances that lead to this. Sonic then checked his arm and was surprised to see not only that Pridwen had been cleaned, but his arm and jacket were both completely unburned.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, sire,” said Palamedes. Sonic and Twilight looked at the knights and saw they were all around a table with the others looking at the grail rubbing. “And you as well, Lady Twilight.”

“How’s the head?” asked Gallus handing them both ice-packs which they held to their heads to deafen the headaches as they walked over to see the rubbing.

“Better now that I’ve seen this,” said Sonic as he looked at it in all its glory. “What’s it say?”

“Well near as I can tell, it’s the name of a settlement,” said Knuckles. “Sunka Waka, it says.”

“It was an old Indian settlement in the southern deserts,” said Starlight, remembering her history readings. “Legends say an army of knights arrived there and laid siege to it for about a year, laying it to waste until another tribe showed up and laid claim to the land.”

“Until my family moved down there and settled,” said Applejack. “Town’s called Appleloosa now.”

“It wouldn’t happen to be near some mountains, would it?” asked Knuckles.

“Or at least an oasis?” asked Silver. This sudden interest confused Applejack, but she figured she might as well answer.

“Yeah, sorta,” she said. “Why?”

“Because it says right here,” said Knuckles, pointing at the rubbing and reading it again. “‘Across the desert and through the mountain to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon’. Appleloosa must be near there.”

“Undoubtedly,” said Silver, pulling out the journal and turning to a page with a textless map. “Now, this is a map Blaze and I managed to piece together from clues scattered throughout the whole history of the grail quest. Now we knew there was a city with an oasis due east, here.”

“That’s where my cousin Braeburn and his folks at the orchard down there get all the water for their trees,” said Applejack. “They rigged up an irrigation system for it.”

“I’d be surprised if they didn’t,” said Blaze, continuing what Silver said. “We knew the course of the oasis turned south through the desert to a river, which led into the mountains, here. From there, it was a straight shot to the canyon.”

“Man, you guys seem to know everything about this thing,” said Pinkie.

“Except where to start,” said Silver, slapping the journal closed. “Now we do.”

“In that case, I suggest we head down there ASAP,” said Sonic sitting up and strapping Caliburn back to his hip. “Applejack, get hold of your cousin; tell him to meet us at the town bar with a guide to the oasis.” Then he got up and started to leave.

“What about you?” asked Twilight. Sonic looked back and smirked.

“I’m gonna go commission a ride,” he said and zipped out, smacking right into Princess Celestia, knocking himself to the ground.

“Are you okay, Sonic?” she asked, helping him up.

“Fine, fine,” said Sonic, brushing himself off. “What are you doing here, I thought you were in a meeting with Ember?”

“We wrapped up early,” said Ember as she flew in. “And I gotta say Celestia, has anyone ever told you you’re an amazing haggler?”

“Once or twice,” said Celestia. “But more importantly, what happened here? We heard an explosion.”

“Bit of a long story. Short version; we found what we need to continue our quest,” said Sonic, before he realized something. “But as long as you’re here, I need something.”

“Name it,” said Celestia.

“A private carriage,” said Sonic. “With enough room for all twenty-eight of us, including the half-giant in there.”

“My lord!” said Galehaut in apparent anger.

“It’s not racism if you use it unironically, Galehaut!” Sonic yelled back. “Or if it’s the truth!”

“I’ll get my engineers to work on it,” said Celestia as she and Ember moved back down the hall. “How soon do you need it?”

“Immediately,” said Sonic before the princess and Dragon Lord left. “Before our enemies catch wind of our plans.”

“E- Enemies?” asked Fluttershy.

“We’re talking about the most powerful and valuable religious artifact in history here, Fluttershy,” said Tails honestly. “You don’t seriously think we’re the only ones in the Multiverse looking for it, do you?”

“Well, I did,” said Fluttershy still scared from the explosion.

“I’m not sure about this anymore,” said Ocellus.

“Yona more than sure,” said the Viking. “Yona excited for fight!”

“You and me both, kid,” said Shadow, patting her on the shoulder as he moved to the door. “Let’s do this.” Then Sonic realized something.

“Y’know Shadow, in the legend the grail blasts Lancelot with a fireball that knocks him out for a few weeks,” he said. “Maybe you shouldn’t come.”

“Well Faker, there’s only one way to know if it’ll do that to me when we find it,” said Shadow. “I’m going whether you like it or not.”

“Fine,” said Sonic. Suddenly, the guard Halberd appeared.

“King Sonic, your carriage is ready,” he said.

“Already? Man, that was fast even by my standards,” said Sonic as the others joined him, Spike writing a memo with a red quill.

“It’s what the royal engineers pride themselves on, sire,” said Halberd. “Her Highness even has a stable of Pegasai readily at your disposal. I’m to drive the carriage myself.”

“Oh. Well then…” said Sonic, lifting his crown a small bit. “Your servant, sir.”

“And we are his,” said Dinadan with a flourish of his cape.

“Excellent,” said Halberd. “Right this way, please.” And with that, the guard led them to a small runway with a carriage similarly sized to the one Merlin had magicked up for the Gala, but with two strong-looking white Pegasai on the reigns. Sonic was about to say something when Merlin stuck his head out of the carriage.

“Come along, Sonic,” said the wizard. “We can’t wait around all day.” Sonic chuckled in understanding.

“Just like the carriage for the Gala, right Merlin?” he asked.

“Except bigger, my boy,” said the wizard as he opened the curtain to reveal a large chamber that the whole group quickly climbed into.

“Alright Halberd, we’re all here,” said Sonic through the curtains in the front. “Let’s fly.”

“Not quite yet, I’m afraid sire,” he said. “There are three more guests we’re waiting for.”

“What, who?” asked Sonic.

“Wait for us!” said a young-sounding voice. Knuckles looked out the side of the carriage to see three young girls; an elf, a human and a Windwalker. The elf was fairly had green eyes and lavender and pale pink hair and was wearing white, the human had orange hair and red hair with a pink bow in it wearing a yellow shirt and overalls, and the Windwalker had purple hair and eyes and orange ears as well as orange clothes.

“What the-? Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, what’re you doin’ here?” asked Applejack.

“School trip, remember?” asked Apple Bloom. “Heard you guys were in town and wanted to come with you.”

“Okay no,” said Sonic. “You can’t come with us, it’s too dangerous. I mean- Who said you could come along?” The girls all pointed at Merlin, who Sonic glared at. “Seriously dude?”

“What? They made a very compelling argument,” said Merlin.

“They pulled your beard, didn’t they?” asked Manic seeing through his lie.

“Very hard, yes,” said Merlin. “I think they almost unhinged my jaw.”

“Well, I’m very sorry Sweetie Belle, but Sonic is right; you can’t come along with us,” said Rarity. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Please…?!” they asked, their eyes turning big.

“ _Agh, dang it! The puppy-dog eyes again!_ ” thought Sonic. “ _I feel really bad now._ ” Finally, he gave in. “Alright, fine. You can join us.” The girls cheered and whooped, but Sonic stopped them. “On one condition; while you’re with us, you follow every command that I, my knights or any of the girls ask of you, to the letter. Do I make myself clear?”

“No you don’t,” said Pinkie, zipping up to him and snapping her fingers, suddenly turning Sonic see-through. “Now you do.”

“How did you do that?” he asked honestly disturbed.

“Just roll with it,” said Twilight. “Trust me, it’ll save us all another headache.”

“Okay whatever,” said Sonic as he snapped his fingers, suddenly turning him solid again. “Now then, that’s my only condition for this quest. Do you understand?”

“Fully,” said Sweetie.

“Good,” said Sonic. “Now repeat it back to me, so I know for sure.”

“While we’re with you, follow every command you and everyone else asks of us to the letter,” they said in sync.

“Good. Welcome aboard,” said Sonic as he pulled them aboard and turned to Halberd. “Now let’s get moving!”

“Yes sire,” said the guard as he cracked the reigns and made the Pegasai take off, hauling the carriage behind them. “Where to?”

“Appleloosa,” said Sonic. “I expect we’ll be meeting a guide there.”

“Just finished the note to Braeburn,” said Spike. “I can send it to him via my fire now if you want, but if you’d like to hear it first, I can read it to you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” said Sonia. “Just send it.” Spike shrugged and blew green flame on the scroll, sending the sparkling smoke cloud flying ahead, and letting them kick back and enjoy the ride.


	22. Welcome to the West

While they were flying to Appleloosa, Silver suddenly realized something that was in the journal.

“Okay, now there’s one thing we almost forgot to mention about the end of our quest,” said Silver. “Which as of now, is only a few miles away.”

“What is it?” asked Scootaloo.

“Well, according to the legend, he who finds the temple of the Holy Grail must face the final challenge before finding the grail itself,” said Silver. “Consisting of three devices of such lethal cunning.”

“Meaning booby traps,” said Starlight. Pinkie giggled a bit at that.

“Oh, grow up,” groaned Blaze. “Anyway, Silver and I have managed to find the clues that will take us safely through these traps in the ancient work known as the Chronicles of St. Anselm.”

“Well, what are they?” asked Sandbar.

“First of all; ‘The Breath of God’,” said Silver, opening the journal and quoting it. “‘Only the penitent man will pass’. Second; ‘The Word of God. Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed’. And third; ‘The Path of God. Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth’.”

“What does that mean?” asked Rarity. Silver looked at Blaze and they both shared a dry chuckle.

“We have no idea,” said Blaze. “We’ll have to find out at the temple.”

“Flying by the seat of your pants,” said Rainbow. “Nice.”

“Are you sure about this Sonic?” asked Twilight.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” asked Sonic. “I usually make up plans as I go along on all my other adventures, and this is no exception. These two have diving into Grail lore since we began our quest to find it.” Then he heard something outside; it was loud and coming fast. Feirefiz glanced outside and saw a large fleet of flying Egg Centurions.

“Sire!” he said in concern.

“Ugh! Don’t tell me,” groaned Sonic.

“I’m afraid so, my king,” said Palamedes having looked himself. “Dr. Eggman is following us.”

“Great,” groaned Sonic. “Alright, prepare for long-range combat. Defend the carriage with everything we’ve got.”

“Yes sir,” said his knights as they all fished ranged weapons out of their bags. Some had bows, Knuckles had Galatine’s bow configuration, Shadow had Arondight in one hand and an M16 in the other, Tails and Sonia had laser guns, Blaze had fireballs burning in her hands, Merlin had magic lightning coursing through his body, Silver had psychokinetic bursts ready to blast from his hands and Galehaut had a retrofitted gunpowder cannon with a trigger (Think “Fallout 4” Broadsider weapon).

“Alright boys, shoot them down!” shouted Sonic and the knights quickly let fly with their ammunition and powers, knocking all the Badniks out of the air, but all the fire had scared away the Pegasai, who had broken the carriage harness and dragged Halberd away on the reigns, making the carriage fall out of the sky.

“Uh, do we have a plan B?!” asked Gallus as they fell.

“Depends,” said Sonic. “You and the others wanna get out and carry us?” That gave Tails an idea, which he whispered to Fluttershy. Quickly, she nodded and whistled out of the carriage which prompted a flock of large birds to fly up and grab the carriage by the curtains and carry it over the forest it nearly crash-landed in, setting it down at the edge of the desert and letting it roll along.

“Where’d you get the idea for that?” asked Silver.

“I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne,” said Tails. “‘Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky’. Heh. Nice quote, isn’t it?”

“Indeed,” said Rarity. “Applicable as well.”

“Yes,” said Bors. “But the sudden appearance of Eggman’s machines has me concerned; perhaps he seeks the Grail as well.”

“I doubt it,” said Tails. “He doesn’t believe in the power of the Sacred Swords, why should he believe in the Holy Grail?”

“Yo, who thinks it’s Morgana?” asked Manic.

“Ugh, that old witch,” groaned Palamedes, checking his sword. “Why can’t she just leave well-enough alone?”

“Search me, Palamedes,” said Sonic. “All I know is she hates my family, but don’t bother asking why cause I don’t know either.”

“Either way, we should be reachin’ Appleloosa any minute now,” said Applejack checking her pocket watch. Soon enough, the carriage rolled to a stop in the middle of a crowded-sounding town. Once they stopped, Sonic jumped out of the cart to find himself in what looked like the set for an old-fashioned Western movie with people dressed as cowpokes all around them.

Sonic snapped his fingers and all the others climbed down out of the carriage, drawing more and more attention but this attention quickly became positive when they saw Twilight and her friends climb out. At that, they all gathered around the group and hoisted them up, even Galehaut and cheered them. Finally, a young man in brown leather with a red apple patch on his vest with a gold tan, pistachio-colored eyes, and bright orange hair walked up with a kind smile on his face.

“Howdy there, cousin Braeburn!” said Applejack as she and Apple Bloom moved to grab the man in a hug.

“Well howdy there, cousins,” said Braeburn before approaching the others. “Howdy partners, welcome to Appleloosa.”

“A pleasure,” said Sonic. “You’ve made all the arrangements from Spike’s message, I trust?”

“Everythin’ you asked fer, yer majesty,” said Braeburn. “But y’all look tired and thirsty from yer flight. How’s about a drink before ya get on the road?”

“Why not?” asked Sonic. “Cmon guys, my treat.”

“I could go for something,” said Shadow as they all wandered down the main road to the saloon, apparently called the Salt Block. Once Sonic passed through the door, most of the patrons started looking at him funny, him and his knights. He grew suspicious until he saw a mustachioed man in a hat and vest with a silver badge on it with a six-shooter at his side. He figured that was the sheriff and was gonna be ready to step in should something go down. Sonic just moved to the bar and sat down, letting the barkeep walk over.

“What can I do ya fer?” he asked.

“A round for me and my friends here,” said Sonic gesturing to the group. “It’s on me.”

“You got it,” said the bartender as he moved to the tap. Sonic was just checking his ring-sack to pay for it when he saw a young Native American-looking woman with dark grayish red-brown eyes, light gamboge hair and wearing light tangelo clothes and a headband with two eagle feathers in it over at a table on the main floor. Sonic quickly left a single ring (clearly more than enough to pay for it) on the counter and walked over to her.

“You the guide Braeburn arranged for us?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, shaking his hand. “My name’s Little Strongheart. I know the area you’re going to like the back of my hand. The land’s dangerous though.”

“We can handle it,” said Sonic, placing his hand on Caliburn with his usual cocky smirk. But what he didn’t know was that later on, he would face some issues.


	23. Evening Mishaps

That evening, once everyone had finished their drinks and was preparing to leave, the doors to the saloon opened and in walked a young elf man with short purple hair, tan skin, and burning blue eyes. He was wearing a long black coat with dark armored gauntlets, black armored boots, and a black headband. Sonic also saw that he had a bronze-hilted sword strapped to his hip. He rolled his eyes as he recognized the man and groaned as he turned to fully face him.

The man looked around the bar with a perpetual scowl on his face. “A battalion of my soldiers was just defeated in the air outside this settlement,” he said in a dark-sounding voice. “Whoever did it, come forward now… or take it to your early grave.”

“You’d better choose your next words real carefully, kid,” said Knuckles as he got up from his beer and walked over to him, fist ready if necessary. “Or else I’m gonna have to take care of you myself.”

“I welcome you to try, Sir Gawain,” he said, angering the echidna. “But I’m not here for you. I’m here for your master.”

“Listen boy, Ah don’t know who you think you are, and to be frank Ah don’t much care,” said the sheriff. “But ya’d best hightail it outta here ‘fore things get ugly.” The man just chuckled as he looked to Sonic who was just getting up.

“This is my nephew,” he said. “Mordred; the son of my cousin Morgana and my evil doppelganger Scourge. As for who attacked your men Mordred, I did,” he said. “I take it you’re working with Eggman now?”

“Who?” asked Mordred.

“Y’know, the guy who lent you those robots?” asked Tails.

“Ah. Then the answer to both is no,” said Mordred. “My mother had me steal them from that imbecile behind his back and she gave me one simple order.”

“Kill me,” said Sonic rolling his eyes again.

“Yes,” said Mordred, spreading his hand. “Which I shall do thus.” Then a large fireball shot from his hand at Sonic but it instantly dissipated just before it hit him, confusing the young man. “Okay, what and how?”

“Mordred, allow me to _re_ introduce Merlin Ambrosius, my court wizard,” said Sonic, pointing at the old mage. “And your mother’s old teacher.”

“Ah yes, I’m surprised I forgot my mother’s warning about him,” said Mordred. “Though it might help the fact that that attack wasn’t what I intended.”

“Well then, what was the one you-?” Rainbow began before she noticed a glowing red ball of magic in the corner near her feet. And it was blinking and beeping. “Yeah okay, I guess I walked right into that one.”

“EVERYONE OUT! NOW!” yelled Twilight, quickly trying to evacuate the bar, but they all stopped when they hit a strange black energy barrier. Sonic looked to see Mordred’s ear-tips and hand glowing with a black aura.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“Are you out of your mind, Mordred?!” asked Sonic. “You’d actually kill yourself and half a town to satisfy your mother’s bloodlust?!”

“To satisfy my mother, I would eradicate this entire planet if you forced me to do so!” growled Mordred.

“Oh please,” said Silver, putting up a psychic shield around the orb. “This is an easy fix.” Then he produced the white Chaos Emerald and smirked. “Chaos Control!” Then he quickly disappeared and reappeared outside the bar and swiftly used his powers to hurl the orb into the air, where it then exploded in a huge blast of fire, leaving the town below completely unscathed.

“Alright Mordred,” said Sonic, drawing Caliburn. “Listen. If you want a fight, I’ll gladly give you one. But leave the innocents out of it. You and your mother want me, here I am.”

“Well, since you forfeit yourself to me…” said Mordred, drawing his sword. “I shall gladly oblige.” Then Sonic got a good look at his sword and was actually a bit scared.

“Wait a second,” he said. “That’s my father’s old sword, Clarent. I left him on the wall over the mantle.”

“Indeed you did,” said Mordred. “Shame really, he was gathering quite a bit of dust when I found him.”

“When you what?!” asked Sonic angrily.

“What, my mother didn’t tell you?” asked Mordred. “Oh, of course not. This is the first you’ve heard of me in ages, why should I expect you to have heard this? Well anyway, I’m sure you’re wondering how my mother escaped your castle’s dungeons.”

“It’s been on my mind, yeah,” said Sonic.

“Well,” said Mordred, giving a slight bow. “You’re looking at him.”

“So lemme get this straight;” said Sonic as the two walked outside. “You broke into my castle, got past all my best knights, managed to break your mother out of the dungeons _and_ steal Clarent, getting out completely unscathed?”

“Indeed,” said Mordred.

“But how can you even _hold_ Clarent? Merlin always told me whoever used it had to be pure of heart,” said Sonic.

“No, only that their heart had to be pure,” said Mordred. “It never specified pure _good_ or not.”

“Ugh. God, I hate loopholes,” said Sonic as he pulled Pridwen onto his arm. “Look, let’s just fight and end this.” Mordred glared his uncle down but smirked as he sheathed Clarent.

“Not yet,” he said, confusing Sonic.

“Are you still on about that prophecy?” asked the king, honestly annoyed.

“We are not destined to fight just yet,” said Mordred. “The ancient writings say Arthur and Mordred shall duel and die in the Strife of Camlann. Then and only then shall I have the true chance to stain Clarent’s blade with the blood of his former master’s eldest son and heir. And I relish the coming of that day.”

“Y’know those same ancient writings say you’re supposed to die in that fight, but I survive,” said Sonic. “Who are you to defy prophecy?”

“The man who will soon rewrite it,” said Mordred as he disappeared in a burst of magic.

Sonic just scoffed. “Yeah. Sure,” he said before turning to his group and smirked. “Well, what’re we waiting for? Cmon, we’re burnin’ daylight. I at least wanna get to the oasis before nightfall.”

“About that, Sonic,” said Little Strongheart. “It’s a full-day’s trek to the oasis, and even if we head out now, we’ll never make it before dark.”

“Plus, if I’m right, Luna will be making tonight’s moon full,” said Tails, prompting Sonic to instantly become scared.

“On second thought, yeah; let’s wait for tomorrow to head out,” said Sonic. “Galehaut, you got my stuff?”

“Right here, my liege,” said the half-giant, pulling a large metal coffin and chains out of the carriage, deeply confusing the girls.

“Good,” said Sonic. “Merlin, any luck in your experimentation?”

“Nothing yet, Sonic,” said Merlin, opening a large notebook and flipping to a certain page. “I’ve been working on it day-and-night now, but I still haven’t found you a cure.”

“A cure for what?” asked Rarity, suddenly rather scared.

“Sonic’s lycanthropy,” said Shadow.

“Is that contagious?” asked Pinkie absentmindedly.

“Only if I bite you once the full moon rises,” said Sonic. Pinkie still seemed confused, but Twilight put it together.

“You’re a werewolf?” she asked.

“Well, were _hog_ , to be accurate,” said Sonic. “Basically imagine what I looked like back on Mobius, but more butch, darker fur with white tips, and claws and fangs. Oh, and also my shoes have spikes on the soles and straps.”

“Normally he has control over his form back home, but when he goes to another world, especially one radiating foreign magic such as this one, he loses his control and goes wild,” said Merlin. “So we must bind him in order to keep the rest of us safe.”

“And you’ve been working on a cure?” Twilight asked him, fluttering over to him on her spectral wings.

“Oh yes,” said Merlin, going back to his notes. “Uh… That’s a lovely bit of magic there, your majesty. I’ve been trying years to create my own set of spectral wings, but I’ve never gotten it down.”

“The cure, please?” asked Twilight.

“Oh yes, of course,” said the mage, levitating his notes with his magic. “Now you see, I’ve already given Sonic a Wolfsbane Potion, which of course allows lycanthropes to retain their natural minds, but it only works back home on Mobius, and even then, he needs another dose every time he returns from another world. As of yet, however, we have not managed to find a cure for the rest of it.”

“Well, lucky I know Princess Celestia,” said Twilight. “Just head back to Canterlot and tell her you need the werewolf potion by nightfall tonight.”

“Wait, you mean you’ve managed to find a cure for lycanthropy?” asked Sonic. Then Dinadan glanced to the sky and saw the sun had already set.

“Well if so, then I’d suggest you hurry up and get it, Merlin,” he said. “The moonrise is nearly upon us!”

“What?!” asked Sonic in fear and saw that indeed the sky was turning to the darkness of the night. “Quick, tie me down! Now!” Knuckles quickly grabbed him and allowed Shadow and Blaze to clamp on the chains, tying him down just before Knuckles threw him into the coffin, which Galehaut then chained shut itself.

“Right well, ta-ta,” said Merlin before he disappeared in a magic burst. Just when he left, the coffin started shaking. Twilight could hear Sonic growling and screaming and his bones cracking inside it as it shook, but then a huge pale blue furry hand shot out of the box with lupine claws instead of fingernails, which started scraping at the top of the coffin trying to open it.

“Oh crap,” said Knuckles, drawing Galatine. “Looks like Equestria’s natural magic’s increased his werehog-form’s power.”

“You’re going to fight him?” asked Twilight.

“Only until Merlin gets back,” said Shadow, pulling Arondight. “We’re used to it at this point.” Then Sonic burst out of the coffin and roared. He was right; he looked much like he did when he went through the portal back to Mobius, but his skin was deep blue, his clothes were torn in places, his hair was far darker, with spiked shoes and more defined muscles, even under all his fur. And his eyes were blood red.

“Sonic?” asked Twilight. His eyes just locked onto her and he charged, growling and salivating like a feral beast. His knights quickly got in his way and tried to block him with their shields, but he just bulldozed them and kept charging. Then Blaze stabbed Pyronius into the ground, creating a ring of fire around the beast that was once their king, but he was barely even fazed by it as he jumped through and grabbed Blaze in his mouth by her midsection, throwing her off to one side and sending her through a wall. Then Burtalack and Galehaut got in his way, weapons ready.

“Stand down, my king,” said Burtalack. “Leave the maiden alone!” But the beast just jumped on the two and attacked, nearly splitting Burtalack’s ax in half, but then Galehaut grabbed him by his now lupine tail and threw him off to the other side of the square. But then the beast just jumped back at the half-giant, more pissed off than anything else, and kicked him away, making him knock Twilight over with the heel of his boot. Then his eyes locked onto Twilight and he charged and leaped at her.

Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs just as he was about to hit her, but the impact of his fangs never came to her neck. She finally managed to dare open her eyes and saw Sonic had his eyes fixed on her and he was giving a low growl. “Sonic?” Just then, his eyes gained a deeper green gradient in some parts, making it seem like Sonic himself was regaining control of his bestial form.

“Twilight?” he asked in a gruff voice. Then they both heard the sound of an arrow flying through the air, and Sonic’s eyes shot open as he felt something impact his back. Both he and Twilight looked at his back and saw an arrow with a glass vial just below the point jammed in right below his right shoulder-blade, and Knuckles standing about a yard away with Merlin off to his side and Galatine’s bow configuration in his hand.

Then Sonic started groaning as his body shrunk and returned to normal, his torn clothes clinging to his body just before he fell on top of Twilight exhausted. “Ugh… Okay… That happened…” he groaned.

“Are you alright?” asked Twilight. Sonic carefully pushed himself off of her and smirked as he laid next to her.

“Lemme put it like this,” said Sonic. “If I didn’t have dog-breath right now, we’d be makin’ out like lovers.” Immediately after those words came out, they both blushed madly and sat up. “…That came out _so_ wrong.”

“Yeah, maybe save that particular gem for another time Sonic?” asked Silver.

“Not now Silver,” said Sonic as he got up, holding his head. “Whatever was in that antidote gave me a splitting headache that I gotta go sleep off.”

“Alright then,” said Merlin as Sonic walked back to the carriage. “That’s the plan. We sleep tonight and first thing in the morning, we begin the trek to the Grail Temple.” And go to sleep they did, though Twilight did volunteer to keep an eye on Sonic as he slept to make sure everything went well. Either way, their quest for the grail was nearly over.


	24. Path to the Temple

The next morning, Sonic woke up still a bit dazed and with a dulled but stinging pain in his shoulder. Then he felt something on his left arm and saw Twilight in bed with him, and she looked like an angel in his eyes. He figured “ _Ah, what the hell?_ ” and leaned toward her to plant a kiss on her forehead, just in time for Manic to open the door to the bedroom they were in, prompting Sonic to freeze with his mouth still puckered to kiss her.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Manic chuckled. Unfortunately, his untimely arrival also prompted Twilight to slowly start to wake up, but once she saw Sonic’s puckered face as close to her mouth as it was, she blushed bright red and quickly pushed him away with her magic, sending him crashing into the wall.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she asked.

“Aside from getting a splinter the size of my finger stuck in my back?” groaned Sonic as he reached around and pulled the aforementioned splinter out and dropping it into the nearby trashcan. “Just trying to be gentlemanly, since I can only assume you spent the night here with me.”

“She did,” said Manic. “Said she wanted to make sure you didn’t go berserk in your sleep.”

“Wait, that could’ve happened?” asked Sonic.

“Yes, that is one of the side effects of the cure for lycanthropy,” said Twilight as she got up, revealing she was wearing a beautiful white nightgown that extended down to her ankles. “The one who drank it can still have ‘episodes’ of animalistic savagery in the evening and early morning after drinking it. Thankfully you seem unaffected since that didn’t happen to you.”

“Must be my healing factor,” said Sonic, feeling the splinter hole in his back closing. “It must’ve driven off any side effects that might’ve hit me. Either way, can you really blame me for trying to kiss you? I said myself the other night that I thought you were cute.” Twilight was still blushing, but she hid it as best she could as she moved behind a room-divider to change.

“Be that as it may, don’t I have to consent to something like that before you can do it?” she asked as she removed her nightgown and pulled her robes and some small pieces of armor on.

“Not really,” said Sonic, as he pulled his shirt and jacket (which he could only assume had been fixed by Rarity the night before) on and strapped Caliburn back to his hip. “It was just a courtly gesture from a knight unto his maiden; a single kiss on her sleeping forehead. Happens all the time. Hell, I’m pretty sure our dad did it to our mom on once or twice, and she didn’t object.”

“Naw man, he _definitely_ did,” said Manic. “But yeah, he’s right. Nothin’ a knight wouldn’t normally do.”

“I still feel like I should’ve had some sort of say in that matter,” said Twilight as she finished changing and walked out, still adjusting the iron bracers she now had strapped to her forearms. “Not to mention adding this armor to my outfit. It’s just going to hamper my magic.”

“Are you kidding? Merlin made that stuff himself; he built it specifically to strengthen magic,” said Sonic as he grabbed Pridwen off the desk and put the shield on his back. “Besides, you’re the one who got into my bed and fell asleep facing me. You should’ve seen something like that coming.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that,” said Twilight. “Either way, think we’re ready to go?”

“Indeed my lady,” came the voice of Galehaut from outside. Everyone looked out the window surprised if a bit scared, to see the half-giant’s bright bearded face looking in at them.

“Eh… Galehaut, how long have you been out there?” asked Sonic.

“Heh-heh. Long enough, my king,” said the knight. “We’ve paid in full for last night’s stay at the inn and are ready to be on our way to the oasis. Once there, it should be a straight shot south to the temple of the Grail.”

“Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” said Sonic, as he opened the window and climbed out, jumping down to the street to see not only all his knights but also a few pack-mules loaded with equipment.

“Sure took your sweet time,” said Smolder. “What, you have a little lover’s quarrel?”

“A; we’re not lovers… yet…” said Sonic, whispering that last bit to her. “B; just get moving and get ready to defend the party if necessary. With Mordred, Morgana _and_ Eggman all here gunning for us, we’re probably in for a big fight sometime in our future.” Thankfully for most of the trek to the oasis (at which point Little Strongheart left once they reached it) and then south along the river toward the mountains, the desert was very calm apart from the occasional miniature sandstorm. Then as the group was up on the ridge, Silver took one last check at the map just to make sure.

“Temple must be within another three or four miles,” he said. “Otherwise we’re off the map.” Suddenly Galehaut saw something and quickly ducked down onto his stomach.

“Everyone stop,” he said. “We’re being followed.” Sonic looked and indeed saw a large armored convoy of Egg Centurions and strange crystalline-armored warriors, clearly magically created, down in the gorge. He quickly pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked down to see Mordred, Eggman, and Morgana at the head of the convoy. With a prisoner in chains.

“Oh nuts,” he said. “They’ve got Shining Armor.”

“What? Is he okay?” asked Twilight extremely worried.

“Seems to be,” said Sonic. “He wouldn’t be chained up if Morgana could’ve enthralled him with her magic. His mind must be very strong.” Then he looked to the head of the convoy and gave an impressed whistle. “Looks like they traded up in terms of siege equipment; they’ve got a hover tank down there. Six-megawatt cannon, looks like.” Unfortunately, the light reflected off the lenses of his binoculars and Mordred managed to see it, quickly stopping the group.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“It must be Sonic,” said Eggman, turning to the tank. “Lock targeting at the top of the ridge!”

“Yes master,” said the tank-driver and it aimed the cannon up at the ridge.

“What the hell’s wrong with you Sonic?” asked Sonia. “Get down.”

“Will you relax sis?” asked the king. “Even for a gun like that, we’re well out of range.” Even so, once the large plasma ball shot from the gun straight toward them, Sonic quickly ducked behind the rocks. “Merlin, shield!”

“At once sire!” said the mage and used his magic to raise a stone barrier around the group, allowing the blast to hit that instead of them, though it did crack the barrier enough for them to slip away.

“Scans don’t show anyone up there,” said a Centurion.

“Maybe it wasn’t even Sonic,” said Eggman.

“No it was him alright,” said Morgana. “Merlin is cloaking their life signatures with his magic. They’re out there somewhere.”

“Throw the prince in the tank,” said Mordred, prompting a few Centurions to do so, removing his chains as they moved him. “Well either way, in this sun and with no means of viable transport, they’re as good as dead, even with my uncle’s famed speed.” Then a large blast of magic echoed across the valley, revealing a large group of cloaked mages, blasting the centurions and prompting the leaders to take cover behind vehicles. “It’s Sonic alright.”

The team was running down the ridge and were rather surprised to see the mages. “Who are these guys?” asked Gallus.

“Do you care right now?” asked Shadow.

“Long as they’re keeping those guys busy? No, not really,” said the Griffinborn.

“Alright, Sweetie Belle; you and your friends stay here,” said Sonic. “Twilight, grab your brother. The rest of us will organize some tougher transportation.” The group all went their separate ways and navigated their way through the firefight the Centurions had started with their weapons. Then Sonic saw a strange mark on the chest of one of them; a cruciform. He also saw that the mages appeared to be made of rock.

“These guys are Golems of the Brotherhood,” he said surprised, but the girls were confused. “According to the legend of the Grail, they’re the guardians of the Temple. If we’ve run into them, we must be on the right track. Galehaut, you’re the vanguard. Everyone else, try and secure a truck and maybe a few horses.” Twilight was quietly slipping past the guards toward the tank as Sonic managed to stab a magic warrior and steal its horse for one of the others.

In the tank, Twilight slipped in next to Armor and tapped his shoulder, spooking him. “Hey BBBFF.”

“Twily, he-hey!” said Armor hugging her. “What the heck are you doing here?”

“Saving your rump a sixth time,” said Twilight. “Cmon, let’s get outta here.”

“Oh no ya don’t,” said a robot soldier as he climbed back down into the tank and stopped the two from exiting.

“Fisk her,” said Mordred as he joined the robot guards, who quickly searched her. “You honestly think you and your worthless friends can defeat my armies?”

“Easily,” said Twilight as an explosion echoed outside and there was loud whinnying and whooping.

“YEE-HAW!” yelled Sonic and he laughed as Mordred looked out and saw him riding away with a group of horses and Galehaut running off with a large truck under his arm. The robots quickly took the opportunity to start up the tank and drive after them. “Alright, everything went off without a hitch!”

“Except one thing,” said Tails, looking through his binoculars at the tank. “Twilight and Armor are still in the tank.”

“Not for long, they’re not,” said Sonic as he jumped off and prepared his weapons, running in front of the cannon. He banged Pridwen with Caliburn’s flat and smirked. “Cmon Mordred! Let’s see what you’ve got!”

“Take him down!” ordered the warrior. The cannon fired straight at the king, but he just bounced it away into the hill with his shield before he ran straight toward the tank. Unfortunately, the rest of the convoy was closing on him. Sonic quickly whistled as loud as he could and the rest of his knights rode over the hill to take them down. Then suddenly Merlin conjured a portal over the tank’s main hatch and something shot out of it. Or rather, some _one_. It was a young jacked man with a red mullet and yellow hair-horns as well as blue eyes wearing a red jacket over a black shirt and pants, black fingerless gloves and brown combat boots and a brown backpack. He also had hair down to his hips and a strange sword with a curved pommel on his belt.

“Merlin, is that who I think it is?” Sonic asked, smiling.

“Indeed my liege,” said Merlin flying alongside his king. “I telepathically informed him of the situation as I pulled him through. Now he shall fight with us.” Then the man walked up to the hatch and punched clean through it, ripping it off on his fist before throwing it at another of the trucks, blowing it up.

“Mornin’ sunshine!” he said sticking his head in, only to meet a gun-barrel pointed at his face. Quickly he rolled up into a literal ball and let the bullet bounce off him into the robot’s face. Then he unrolled and punched Mordred straight into the gun-controller’s back, causing him to fire the blaster before the ball was fully charged which detonated the cannon, blasting it to worthless salvage. “That’s what you get when you mess with an armadillo.” Then he looked at Twilight and Armor with a smile and flipped down to them. “Twilight Sparkle, right?”

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Name’s Mighty Gaheris,” he replied. “I’m another of Sonic’s Sacred Sword Knights. Merlin called me here to save your asses. Cmon, let’s go.”

“With pleasure,” said Armor as he grabbed Mighty’s hand and the three climbed out. Then Mordred followed them out, an angry look on his face.

“No! I have the upper hand here,” he growled, drawing Clarent. “And I will retain it until Camlann.”

“Where you’ll instantly lose it _and_ your life,” said Mighty, pulling out his sword to reveal an incredibly straight and sharp blade. “Besides, with Grasscutter here, I don’t even need to touch your blade.” Then with one swing of the great blade, a strong wind blew in and hit Mordred right in the face, knocking him back toward the front of the tank. But he just got up growling and angry, his free hand pulsating with black magic. “Okay, now might be a good time to go.” Quickly, he swung Grasscutter up and a strong wind picked the three of them up and blew them back to the others.

“Hey Mighty,” said Knuckles, patting him on the shoulder. “Glad you could make it.”

“Thanks, but I think we should get outta here,” said Mighty. “I kinda wanna see the Grail.”

“Then we’ll have to hurry,” said Merlin, looking out toward the tank. “Mordred and the others have already left for the temple. We have to get down south this instant.”

“Well let’s get going!” said Palamedes, mounting one of the horses they stole. “Saddle up!”

“You said it, Sadiq,” said Sonic as he quickly dusted himself off after that little scuffle. “Let’s rock!” And with that, they all quickly raced back to the river and kept following it south to find themselves beyond the mountains and right at the canyon of the crescent moon.

“Alright, the temple should be down there somewhere,” said Silver. “Let’s go.” And they all quickly ran down the slope to the canyon.


	25. The Trials of God

Once in the canyon, the group did indeed see a large temple built into the wall of the canyon and a convoy of vehicles outside. Luckily, the doors were unguarded so the whole group could slip in easily, but Sonic had other plans.

“Galehaut, Palamedes, Dinadan, Feirefiz, Bors, Burtalack; you stay out here with the students and the young ones,” said Sonic. “Stay on guard in case there are any more treasure hunters or Centurions out here. The rest of us can handle this.”

“As you order my lord,” said Burtalack. “This doorway seems a bit too small for me anyway.”

“Alright everyone, time for our Grail quest to end,” said Sonic as he led the others inside, weapons ready. Once inside, they were surprised to see Eggman wasn’t there, but there was a large mass of robots and crystal warriors with Mordred and Morgana. One of said robots was walking into a hallway polluted with cobwebs only to suddenly fall to the ground and have its head roll out like a bowling ball, straight to Sonic.

“Commander, another volunteer,” said Mordred. The group was terrified and disgusted at this display, but in Rarity’s case, it was quickly replaced by sheer terror as she felt a spear against her back.

“Move forward,” said a dark voice. Sonic looked and saw they were surrounded by more crystal golems with weapons. He and his knights had no choice but to drop theirs and comply, moving forward drawing their enemies attention as they were brought forward.

“Well, well, well,” said Mordred. “Never expected to see you here Uncle.”

“We’re like bad pennies kid,” said Sonic. “We always turn up.” The others all groaned and rolled their eyes at that.

“How long you been waiting to crack out that gem?” asked Pinkie.

“Oh screw you, that was funny!” said Sonic.

“Step back now, Mordred,” said Morgana, prompting him to move back. “Give your uncle some room. After all, if he’s to recover the Grail for us, he’ll need a clear conscience.”

“And what? Go down in history as another stooge to Eggman like you?” asked Sonic.

“Eggman?” asked Morgana, chuckling. “Is that really the limit of your tiny imagination? The doctor wants to write his army and legacy into the Grail’s legend? Well, he’s more than welcome. But I want the Grail itself. Ivo can have the world, but he can’t take it with him. Mordred, Scourge and I are going to be drinking to our own health when he’s gone the way of the dodo.” Then her hand started glowing with a purple aura aimed straight at Sonic. “The Grail is to be ours, and you’re going to get it for us. Alone.”

“And what’re ya gonna do if I don’t comply? Blast me?” asked Sonic. “Not gonna get you anywhere.”

“You know something cousin? For once, you’re absolutely right,” said Morgana as she reaimed her hand and blasted the magic bolt at Twilight’s stomach. The princess’s eyes shot wide open in pain as she looked at Sonic, then she fell forward into his arms.

“Twilight!” said Sonic finally, snapping out of his trance and laying her down on her back on the ground. Silver quickly cut open her robe and saw a strange spot of decay on her stomach. “What’s happening to her?”

“It’s wither,” identified Merlin. “A forbidden spell only the most powerful dark wizards have ever mastered. It attacks the body in a similar fashion to a necrotized fasciitis.”

“A what?” asked Rainbow.

“It’s basically a magic flesh-eating disease,” said Armor.

“Wait, those are a thing?” asked Rainbow.

“Yes, but we’ve managed to eradicate all of the ones native to Mobius that aren’t magic-based,” said Tails. Sonic didn’t care about any of that as he shot to his feet and moved to punch Morgana in the face, but she just shot him in the face with a concussive blast, knocking him back to the wall.

“You can’t save her if you’re dead,” she said. “The healing properties of the Grail are the only thing that can save your girlfriend now. It’s time to ask yourself what you believe.”

“I’m… not his…” Twilight groaned.

“No Twily, don’t strain yourself,” said Armor, as he surrounded his hand in magic and held it over the decaying spot. Merlin quickly did the same and the two tried their best to keep the sickness from spreading.

Sonic just growled and agreed. “I bring two things with me; Caliburn and Silver’s grail journal,” he said. “And a companion.”

“Deal,” said Morgana, having a robot hand him the two items and push Rainbow up to him. “But if you try anything, I accelerate the process of decay.”

“Fine,” said Sonic as he walked down to the hall. “Merlin, keep her alive as long as you can. We’ll be back soon.”

“Already on it, Sonic,” said the mage. Sonic and Rainbow quickly made their way to the cobwebbed hall and walked through.

“How are we supposed to do this?” asked Rainbow.

“It’s the first test,” said Sonic, opening the journal to the page with the tests described. “We’re on ‘The Path of God. Only the penitent man will pass’.”

“Penitent…” Rainbow pondered. “Isn’t that another way of saying sorry?”

“Yes, and what do you do to apologize to God about something?” asked Sonic.

“You kneel,” understood Rainbow as she felt a low wind and saw it blowing the cobwebs, which she took as a sign. “Down!” Quickly the two ducked and a large spinning circular blade shot out of the wall and cut some of their hair at the ends, but otherwise left them alone. Then they rolled forward as another one shot up from the floor and tried cutting them there. Then they found a small nook with large wooden gears. “How did these guys build these things?”

“Does it matter?” asked Sonic as he pulled Caliburn and shattered one of the gears, stopping the blades’ movement. “We’re through!”

“We’re through,” said Mordred happily as Eggman finally arrived.

“Alright; one down, two to go,” said Sonic, looking back at the book. “Second challenge; ‘The Word of God. Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed’.”

“Well that’s descriptive,” said Rainbow sarcastically as the two walked down the hallway to find a part of the floor decorated with letters in English. “What’s this?”

“The path. We have to step on the correct panels or we risk falling to our death,” said Sonic.

“No we don’t,” said Rainbow, stretching. “I can just fly us across and- wait, what’s wrong with my wings?”

“This part of the temple must be enchanted,” said Sonic. “No magic allowed while trying to complete the challenges. Now back to the matter at hand, what word is most commonly associated with a person?” Then Rainbow realized it.

“Their name,” she said. “What’s the name of the Christian God?”

“Jehovah,” said Sonic. Then as Rainbow was taking a step, he suddenly remembered something very important. “Wait!” Too late; she stepped on the J panel in the floor and she almost fell through, but Sonic quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “Idiot!”

“What are you talking about? You said God’s name was Jehovah, so it starts with a J,” said Rainbow.

“Not in Latin,” said Sonic. “Everything’s spelled differently in Latin, including God’s name. In Latin, it starts with an I, not a J.”

“That makes no sense,” said Rainbow.

“I know. Now cmon,” Sonic returned and stepped on the I panel. “Now once we’ve both stepped on them, mark the panels with something. You got a piece of chalk or something?”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow, pulling out a vial of ink. Quickly, the two spelled out the Latin spelling of the name of God, with Rainbow splashing a drop of ink on each stone they had to step on to make it safely. Once done with that, the passage narrowed to an opening to a wide cannon that cut across their path. And there was a lion’s head carved into the stone nearby. Sonic looked down into the gorge and saw it was incredibly deep.

“Ohhh boy, this is the worst time of my life to get vertigo,” he said, stepping back.

“Wait, is this the last test?” asked Rainbow.

“Yeah,” said Sonic, looking back at the lion-head relief. “‘The Path of God. Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth’. But it’s impossible; even if I _did_ still have my powers, I’d never be able to make that jump.”

“Sonic!” yelled Tails from the main antechamber. “Merlin can’t keep this up much longer. Come quick!”

“Not yet, Tails! We haven’t found the grail chamber yet!” said Sonic. “But we’re almost there!”

“Just hurry!” called Tails.

“Wait, wait-wait-wait,” said Sonic remembering. “Something like this happened to me when I had to meet the leader of a clan of chameleon ninja. There must be an invisible bridge.”

“Are you sure?” asked Rainbow.

“Not really, but hey; it’s basically a leap of faith, and I’ve taken more than a few of those over my career,” said Sonic as he raised his left foot to take a step out. “Mind over matter.” Then he dropped onto his left foot and was relieved to find there was indeed an invisible bridge. Quickly, he and Rainbow made their way across to the other side, sprinkling soil, and dust onto the bridge to reveal it to the others. Then they quickly made their way into a large antechamber at the other end of the tunnel lit by torches with a single basin in the middle of the room, surrounded by gold tableware.

Rainbow gave an impressed whistle, but Sonic grabbed her shoulder. “Don’t even think about it. To steal from a place of God is a sin of the highest order.” Then he noticed a man in armor on one side of the room reading a book with a sword leaning against his table. “Uh… excuse me?” The man then quickly grabbed up his sword and turned to face them, bringing his blade down in a heavy slash. Sonic quickly pulled Caliburn and blocked it, sliding it to the ground. The man tried to go for a downward slash, but he ended up falling over on his back. “Whoa hey! Are you alright?” He and Rainbow quickly moved to help him up and saw that he was incredibly old, given his long white beard.

He stared at Sonic for a minute but then smiled. “I knew you’d come,” he said in a British accent. “But my strength has left me.”

“Who are you?” asked Rainbow.

“The last of three brothers who swore an oath to find the Grail and to guard it,” he said, revealing who he was.

“Wait, you’re Sir Richard?” asked Sonic to which the knight nodded. “But that was 700 years ago.”

“Yes. A long time to wait,” he said. Then he looked the two over and felt their clothes. “You are strangely dressed for knights.”

“Well, I’m not actually a knight,” said Rainbow.

“I am,” said Sonic. “Heck, I’m a king. But there’s no need to bow, just tell me what we do now. I mean, why are you still here?”

“I was chosen to remain behind and guard the Grail personally because I was the bravest and most worthy of my brothers,” said Sir Richard. “The honor was mine till another came to challenge me to single combat.” Then he dropped to his knee and held up his sword. “I pass it to you, my liege, who vanquished me.”

“No need for that, good Sir Richard,” said Sonic, helping the old knight up. “You may stay and live as long as you still can. I’d probably even make you one of my own knights if you weren’t so… well, old. But either way, there’s no need for me to kill you.”

“An honorable king,” said the knight. “Thank you, my lord.” Then Eggman walked in, accompanied by Morgana. The two looked around for a moment at all the goblets before Eggman grew confused and looked at Richard.

“Well, which one is it?” he asked.

“You yourself must choose,” said the knight. “But choose wisely, for as the True Grail will bring you life, a False Grail…”

“Will take it?” guessed Rainbow.

“Indeed,” he said.

“You heard him, doctor,” said Sonic. “Pick the right grail or you’re in for an early grave.”

“I’m a roboticist, Sonic, not a historian,” said Eggman. “I have no clue what it looks like.”

“Allow me,” said Morgana as she walked forward and selected a golden goblet, handing it to Eggman. “Here you are, my lord.”

“Yes,” said Eggman, taking the grail in hand. “This is indeed the Cup of the King of Kings.” He dipped it in the basin and downed it in satisfaction. Then he gave a cruel laugh. “At last… Now my reign will last for a thousand y-” He suddenly stopped as he saw his reflection in the basin and saw himself visibly growing older, his face wrinkling and his mustache turning white. “What is happening to me?” then he pieced it together and grabbed Morgana as he started aging at an astonishing rate. “You worthless traitorous witch! If I’m dying, so are you!” Then he pulled out a dagger and was about to stab her until his hand nearly broke off.

The doctor’s rapid aging instantly scared Morgana as she started screaming when he turned into nothing more than a skeleton with tight-clinging skin. Sonic quickly kicked him away into a wall just as he disintegrated and was blown away by a draft. “Whew,” said Sonic looking back at Morgana, who was still visibly shaken. “You’re welcome.”

“What was that?” asked Rainbow.

“He chose… poorly…” said Sir Richard.

“Thanks for the warning,” said Sonic as he went back to the large counter full of drinkware. “Alright Sonic, think! Jesus was a carpenter, so he’d never be able to afford a grail like any of these. Except…” His eyes caught a ceramic grail in the back which looked perfect for a man of Christ’s pay-scale.

“You sure about that?” asked Rainbow.

“Only one way to find out,” said Sonic as he filled the grail from the basin and hoisted it to the others. “Here’s mud in your eye.” He quickly downed the grail’s water in a few strong gulps and moved it when it was empty, panting. Then he looked Sir Richard dead in the eye as if waiting for an answer.

“You have chosen… wisely,” the old knight said. “The Grail is now yours to take wherever you wish.”

“Thank you, Sir Richard,” said Sonic as he, Rainbow and Morgana ran out of the chamber to the others. “Get me some water! Now!” Mighty quickly grabbed a canteen out of his backpack and filled the grail with it. Then Sonic moved it to Twilight. “Here. Drink.” Twilight’s breathing was getting much more labored, but she managed to down most of the water, giving her back some of her strength. Sonic quickly poured the rest of the water from the grail on her stomach, burning away the decay and making her stomach appear good as new. Once it was healed, Twilight looked up at Sonic and smiled.

Then she did something no one was expecting; she grabbed Sonic by his jacket, pushed herself off the ground a bit and kissed him. Sonic’s eyes shot open as she was doing that and everyone else was wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Except Manic; he just chuckled to himself. Then Mighty looked around and saw the robots and crystal golems moving in on them. He was about to grab Grasscutter, but Morgana held up her hand.

“No,” she ordered. “Let them be. We leave now.”

“All due respect, Lady Morgana but we don’t heed your orders as we do Dr. Robotnik’s,” said the Centurion commander.

“Dr. Robotnik is dead,” said Morgana. “I’m taking over. Return to the Fleet.”

“What? Mother, I thought you wanted this lout dead!” asked Mordred.

“Times have changed, my son,” said Morgana. “He saved my life. And for that, I owe him a debt of gratitude. We are not to kill him unless I change my mind and break my debt, which will not happen any time soon. Sonic, when you next need my help, I shall be there for you.”

“We’ll let you know when that is,” said Shadow, prompting the witch to leave with the warriors following her. Mordred seethed in anger but went with his mother anyway. Finally, Twilight and Sonic broke for air and hugged, happy tears spilling from Twilight’s eyes.

“We’re done here guys,” said Sonic as the two stood up. “Let’s go home.”

“With pleasure Sonic,” said Mighty as they all left the temple. At last, their quest for the Grail was done and they could return to their home. But as they were riding (all of them, since most of them were tired), something occurred to Sonic.

“Y’know Merlin, I did basically open up trade relations with this world at the Gala,” he said. “And I think that might be streamlined if we could have a sort of permanent doorway from this world to Camelot. What do you think?”

“I think that’s an excellent idea, My Liege,” said Merlin. “I’ll weave the spell once we’re back in Ponyville and soon, we’ll have more commerce than ever before.”

“Excellent,” said Sonic as they continued on their way home.

Once back in Ponyville, the group went their separate ways with Armor and the younger girls, as well as Galehaut and most of the other knights whom Merlin sent home with his magic, but Sonic and the Knights of the Sacred Swords remained in Equestria for the night so they could await their return and plan the festivities once home.

Sonic also had some time to contemplate on this quest; for it not only awarded him one of the most sought-after treasures in the Multiverse, but also a lover in the form of Twilight with whom he was sharing a bed that night. He was pondering it just as Twilight walked in from having changed into a light blue nightgown and he smiled.

“Hey Twilight,” he said pulling down the covers and letting them both crawl into bed. “Listen, are you sure about this? I mean, as great as that kiss was, I feel like we’re moving a little too fast, even for me.”

“What do you mean? You’re already sleeping in my house, you might as well have join me in my bed,” she said.

“Yeah, but I’m worried something might happen,” said Sonic. “Like someone might break in to try and kill me and you get caught in the crossfire. Or you might be changing in front of me while I’m awake and you don’t know it and then I get my ass handed to me.”

“Oddly specific,” said Twilight. “But don’t worry, I think I proved I can take care of myself.”

“Sure, but still,” said Sonic.

“Look, forget it,” said Twilight. “Let’s just go to bed and then tomorrow maybe we can talk to our parents about our relationship.”

“What, like getting their blessing?” asked Sonic.

“Something like that,” said Twilight. “Good night.”

“Night hun,” said Sonic not even thinking twice about saying it or the kiss he planted on her cheek before he promptly fell asleep with his left arm snaking around Twilight’s waist, making her blush madly until she also fell asleep, happily.


	26. Family Drama

The next morning, Sonic was up early watching Merlin weave the spell to build the portal to Camelot. In preparation, Knuckles and Mighty had already laid a cobblestone path leading from the main road up to where he was weaving the spell and a large stone frame around it, and the seal was nearly finished.

Then Twilight came out to the balcony with a cup of coffee in her hand and smiled. “We should probably get going soon,” she said. “I told my parents we’d meet them at ten sharp.”

“No need to worry about that, baby,” said Sonic. “Remember I’m the fastest thing alive. I could have us there in the space it’d take Merlin to blink, which granted; doesn’t happen often, but whatever.”

“What, Merlin doesn’t blink?” asked Twilight.

“Not often at least,” said Sonic. “But you know what I’m saying, right?”

“No, I understand,” she said. Then Merlin himself levitated himself up.

“My liege, the doorway to Camelot is ready to be opened,” he said. “Once it is, Mobius and Equestria will be eternally linked by both body and soul. All the spell needs now is Excalibur’s power.”

“Alright then, let’s do this,” said Sonic as he jumped off the balcony and shot over to the spot where the portal-frame was, which appeared almost like a broken mirror leading into the forest. Once there, he drew Caliburn and smirked. “Shall we, partner?”

“Let us shall, King Sonic,” said Caliburn. Sonic then pointed the blade at the portal and a large lightning bolt shot from it, causing the portal to appear more uniform and almost invisible as it appeared to go through into the forest, where Sonic saw another stone path, clearly left by some of his other knights. The king quickly stuck his hand in to make sure it worked and was more than happy to see that thankfully it did; his arm becoming furrier. He quickly pulled it back and allowed it to return to normal and smirked at his court wizard.

“Merlin, you’re a genius,” he said simply.

“Oh I know, my liege,” he replied humbly. “Now then, if I am not mistaken, you and Lady Twilight have somewhere to be today, do you not?”

“Yep. And on that topic, see about getting my mother here, won’t you?” he asked. “I think I’d like her to meet my new girlfriend.”

“I’ll send word to Sir Lionel and have him go to Mobotropolis presently,” said Merlin. “He’s the fastest rider of the Round Table, and more than worthy as a messenger.”

“Perfect. Make it quick,” said Sonic. “Have Silver and Blaze keep an eye on the Grail while we’re in the capital. We’ll be back soon.” And with that, he quickly jumped straight back up to the balcony next to Twilight and smiled. “Shall we?”

“Let’s,” she replied taking Sonic’s hand. The king then took the opportunity to sweep her legs and pick her up bridal-style. She blushed a bit and giggled at this just before Sonic sped off down the road to Canterlot at a manageable speed. Once there, he skidded to a stop and set her down on the street.

“Alright, which way to their place?” asked Sonic.

“Up there,” said Twilight, pointing to a large house near a tower close to the castle. “Allow me to carry you this time.”

“If you insist, my lady,” said Sonic, respectfully bowing. With that, Twilight surrounded him in her magic aura, summoned her wings and flew up. “Ooh, it’s warm. And kinda tingly.”

“Right?” asked Twilight. “I found out the same thing when I was first learning magic.” Finally, they landed in front of the house. “Okay, here we go.” Twilight was about to ring the bell when Sonic stopped her.

“Wait, hang on,” he said. “Maybe it’ll look better if I have the rest of my gear.” To that end, he snapped his fingers and Pridwen appeared on his back as well as a small ornate dagger with a white hilt and a cross on the pommel on his right leg as well as a large brass spear strapped to his back. Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What? Guy’s gotta be well armed if he’s gonna have assassins after his head, which I almost always do.” Twilight smiled at him, almost wanting to roll her eyes, but she just rang the doorbell.

“Just a minute,” said a female voice inside. A few seconds later, an elf woman maybe a few years older than Twilight answered the door, and Sonic could certainly see the family resemblance. She had shining arctic blue eyes and purple and light gray hair and was wearing a white dress with three blue stars on it. “Twilight dear, so good to see you again.” The two hugged and laughed for a second.

“Good to see you too, Mom,” said Twilight as they separated and she looked at Sonic. “Sonic, this is my mom Twilight Velvet. Mom, this is King Sonic.”

“A pleasure to finally meet you, your highness,” she said.

“Well, the pleasure is mine ma’am,” said Sonic, bowing. “May we come in?”

“Oh yes, please do,” said Velvet, moving aside and allowing the two in. “Your father will be joining us in a minute Twilight. He’s just working on looking more presentable.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” said Sonic as he unstrapped the spear and set it against the wall. “I honestly prefer for most meetings to be… well, casual. I only really dress up regally if it’s important. But if you prefer to keep it formal, then far be it from me to stop you.”

“Well, that’s lucky,” said an elf man as he walked into the lounge with an undone necktie around his neck. “I was having a heck of a time trying to figure this thing out.” Sonic looked at him and saw he was a man about Velvet’s age with blue hair and amber eyes, wearing the majority of an azure suit apart from the tie, and with two cream-colored crescent moons on the lapel of the jacket.

“Dad cmon, it’s just a hangout with a boy,” said Twilight as she walked over. “No need to try and do something we all know you can’t do.” She pulled the tie off from around his neck and he smiled.

“It’s only fair he would want to. I mean, it is me we’re talking about here,” said Sonic. “Morning. Sonic Pendragon.”

“Night Light,” he said shaking his hand. “Thanks for coming.”

“Well it’s the least I could do,” said Sonic. “I mean I _did_ just save your daughter yesterday.”

“I feel we’ve missed a lot in your absence, my liege,” said his dagger, spooking Twilight’s parents.

“Not too much, Carnwennan,” said Sonic as he patted the hilt and the face on the pommel. “Just a little battle against Mordred.”

“Ha! As if that’s anything new,” said the spear, sliding grafts out of the way on the head and spooking the group again.

“Alright Rhongo, knock it off,” said Sonic. “Let’s stop scaring everyone.” Everyone just looked at him with unusual looks on their faces and he just smiled. “Long story. To summarize, allow me to introduce the arsenal of Camelot’s throne. My sword Excalibur, shield Pridwen, my emergency dagger Carnwennan, and of course my spear Rhongomyniad; used for occasional mounted combat.”

“Why do you need a mount?” asked Twilight. “You can literally run faster than sound.”

“He did say _occasional_ ,” said Rhongomyniad, glancing to one side. “Though I doubt the same can be said for you in some matters, Lady Velvet.” Sonic followed his spear’s eyes and saw a collection of pictures on the wall, all showing Velvet in one death-defying situation or another.

“Whoa,” he said, getting up and looking at it. “What’s all this?”

“Oh, that? Yeah, I was a bit of a daredevil when I was younger,” said Velvet.

“Mom, that barrel-jumping at Neighagra Falls was just two months ago,” said Twilight, prompting Sonic to see a picture of Velvet indeed going over a waterfall in a barrel.

“Well, like I said, ‘when I was younger’,” said Velvet. Sonic then smiled and walked over to her, chuckling.

“Oh-ho-hooo… I think we’re gonna be really good friends,” he said. “Might help the fact that I’m dating your daughter.” That apparently struck a nerve with Twilight, making her incredibly nervous.

“Duh- Sonic! You can’t just blurt stuff out like that!” she said, jumping in front of him.

“And exactly why should I not be incredibly straight-up with my girlfriend’s parents?” asked Sonic. “It’s the least I can do. ‘Sides, they don’t seem all that bugged.” Twilight was confused until she looked behind her and saw her parents smiling at their daughter.

“Well, it’s about time dear,” said Night Light. “We thought you’d end up spending eternity alone with that chastity belt still locked tight.” Never before in either of their lives did Sonic and Twilight know that a single string of words could cause so much blood to flood one’s face until that exact moment.

“ _Could he have possibly phrased that any worse?!?!?_ ” thought Sonic, clearly redder than Knuckles. “Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, hold the elevator there, big guy,” he said, waving his hands in the air. “That hasn’t happened yet. I mean, don’t get me wrong; your daughter’s hot and all, but a knight such as myself has to uphold his Code of Honor.”

“Well, of course, we can agree with you there,” said Velvet. “We raised a looker, that’s for sure.”

“Oh for- Mom, can you please stop coddling me?” asked Twilight. “I’m not a kid anymore, y’know.”

“Ah dang it, now I want a coddled egg,” said Sonic. “Where’s the kitchen?”

“Oh no need for that sir,” said Velvet, leading the group to a room with a large table decorated with food. “I’ve already made breakfast. Please enjoy.”

“Ohh-hohohoho! I certainly will,” said Sonic, already salivating at the meal. Quickly, the group tucked into their breakfast and managed to finish it up in a very timely manner before heading out into the city. While perusing through the market district, Sonic managed to spot a man with green hair through a crowd.

He almost considered following him but didn’t want to come across as creepy or rude, so he let it slide as the man disappeared into the crowd. Then suddenly, his scrying orb flew out of his jacket and hovered in front of the group, projecting a magic hologram of Merlin in full garb and staff. “Ah, Merlin, Good to see you. What’s the story with Lionel?”

“Why not ask him yourself, my liege?” suggested Merlin, moving over and allowing an older-looking human knight with a blue shield with three jagged bands to take his place.

“My liege,” he said, respectfully bowing. Sonic chuckled.

“Cmon Lionel, you were best friends with my dad; there’s no need for these formalities,” said Sonic, prompting his knight to rise to his feet.

“Only granting you the proper courtesy, my lord,” said Lionel. “Your father would’ve at least wanted me to do that. And speaking of your parents, your mother and I have obviously just arrived, but not alone.” And at that, an older Windwalker woman with green eyes and long purple hair wearing a long white dress and gold cloak walked up behind him, as well as an elf woman around Sonic’s age with blue eyes and bright auburn hair wearing a tight black shirt and set of pants under a blue vest and boots, as well as a blue ring-bracelet on each wrist over white fingerless gloves and a small computer on her waist.

“Hey Mom, good to see you,” said Sonic. “How’s it goin’ Sal? Haven’t seen you around Camelot in a while.”

“Well, I was only there to pay you a visit, but Lionel here told me the situation so I decided I might as well come along for the ride,” she said. “Though I gotta admit, I wasn’t exactly expecting this whole transformation thing.”

“Yes, that was a bit of a surprise,” said Sonic’s mother, touching one of her now feathered ears.

“Yeah, it takes some getting used to,” said Sonic. “Anyways, I might as well get introductions out of the way. Mom, Sal, this is my new girlfriend Princess Twilight Sparkle and her parents Twilight Velvet and Night Light. Guys, this is my mother Queen Aleena of Mobotropolis, and one of my exes Princess Sally Acorn of Acornia.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” said Aleena courteously, though Sally just chuckled.

“You sure this is a good idea Sonic?” she asked. “A girlfriend from an alternate dimension? You don’t think that might get complicated.”

“Eh-hahaha, very funny Sally,” said Sonic humorlessly. “But for your information; that portal you just came through? It’s open permanently. Which brings me to why I had Lionel bring _you_ here, Mom.”

“I’m listening,” said Aleena.

“Well see, there was this huge ball here in the capital a few days ago, and I basically opened up relations between this dimension and Camelot,” said Sonic, recalling his rather rousing speech from the Gala, which he was actually very proud of. “I was hoping you might be open to talking to the reigning matriarch of this dimension about opening trade with Mobotropolis, and heck; if the Acorn Archipeligo’s open to it, why not you too Sally?”

“I guess we could give it a shot,” said Sally. “What do you say, Aleena?”

“I’m open to it,” said Aleena. “As long as we are all allies, I see no problem with it.”

“Great,” said Sonic. “Now all I have to do is arrange some sort of summit of us and all the other rulers of this world.” He noticed the girls in the hologram raise an eyebrow. “Oh yeah, bit of a long story there, but short version; there are a few different unified factions in this world, all with their own rulers. We’ll see about getting a meeting set, and where to hold it.”

“Excellent,” said Aleena. “We’ll be waiting in this large palace until you get home. Yours I assume, Princess Twilight?”

“It is indeed,” said Twilight. “Go ahead.” With that, the two left the hologram and Merlin took over for them.

“Normally I would suggest we hold the meeting in Camelot, but while procuring that lycanthropy potion, I managed to speak with the Royal Sisters and it appears they are also in charge of controlling the cycle of the sun and moon,” said the wizard. “And I can’t substitute for them, because I know you like to have me present for these sorts of meetings and moving the sun and moon requires powerful magic.” Sonic thought for a second before something occurred to him.

“Tell me…” he said. “How’s Niviane’s training going?”

“Not well enough for this sort of work,” said Merlin. “Though Lady Morgana did say she owes you a debt for saving her from Eggman. Perhaps we could consult her for this?”

“No, I don’t think I trust her for something that major just yet,” said Sonic, turning to Twilight. “Do you have any ideas?”

“I have one,” came a voice from behind the scrying orb. Sonic looked and was surprised to see a walking market-cart, which (unsurprisingly) suddenly transformed into Discord.

“Hmm. I dunno,” said Twilight. “Last time you had control over the sun and moon, everything went haywire.”

“Now-now, Twilight, you must remember that was _before_ that darling Fluttershy reformed me,” said Discord. “And I may still be Spirit of Chaos, but I’ve learned to temper those particular fires with humility and order. I can keep things under control if Celestia and Luna wish to leave for the day.”

“Well, since we don’t really have any other options, I guess you’re it Discord,” said Sonic.

“Excellent,” said Discord. “Would you like for me, in the meantime, to pop up to the castle and alert the sisters of the plans for a summit?”

“Please do. We’ll send other messengers to the other rulers of Equestria,” said Sonic, essentially ordering Discord to go, which he promptly did.

“Speaking of which,” said Twilight, turning to the scrying orb. “Merlin, tell the others the plans and send them out to the homelands of all the other clans, okay?”

“With utmost haste, my lady,” said Merlin, bowing. Once he did, the scrying orb deactivated and flew back into Sonic’s jacket. “I guess this means the whole ‘parental blessing’ thing isn’t happening today huh?”

“Oh, far from it,” said Night Light. “If anything, I’d say you’ve already earned it multiple times over.”

“How do you mean?” asked Sonic.

“You save our daughter several times over, manage to find a powerful relic while still protecting her _and_ prioritize peace between nations despite obvious differences?” asked Velvet. “Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t come and ask for our blessing sooner.”

“Yeah well, the whole dating thing was kinda ‘spur of the moment’, so… y’know,” said Sonic. “Not that I mind, but still. Now if you’ll excuse us, I’m afraid we’ll have to entertain my mother and ex-girlfriend as well as possibly send word to Shining Armor and Cadence.”

“We can take care of that ourselves,” said Night Light. “You two go take care of your guests.” Sonic chuckled at that statement.

“As you order, sir,” said Sonic bowing. Then he took Twilight’s hand, but she quickly jerked it away.

“Actually, I was thinking of another plan,” she said, looking at a salesman nearby selling rope. Sonic smirked in understanding and after paying for a short length of a strong nylon rope which he tied between their belts and allowed Twilight to spread her wings, allowing him to quickly jet off back to Ponyville with her essentially hang-gliding behind him on her wings. “So just checking, but this isn’t just a rulers’ summit, is it?”

“Well that _is_ part of it, but no,” said Sonic as they then quickly arrived at the castle. “It’s also going to be a festival to celebrate our finding the Holy Grail.”

“Speaking of which Sonic, you’ll never believe what happened to the Grail while you were gone today,” said Silver as he led them to the vault in the school where the Grail was locked. Upon opening it, Sonic and Twilight were surprised to see that the Grail had somehow turned from the ceramic of the temple to a bright brassy metal with some sort of grapevine design around the actual holding area.

“What the heck?” asked Sonic. “What happened?”

“Best guess? God came down from Heaven and made the thing look a little more presentable,” said Blaze. “Either way, not bad eh?”

“Not bad at all,” said Sonic. Then he looked around and saw a few people were gone. “Hey, wait a minute, where’s Pinkie, Yona, and Manic?”

“Yeah, Spike, Smolder, Starlight, and Ocellus aren’t here either,” said Twilight. “And neither are Silverstream, Knuckles, and Applejack.”

“Shadow, Rainbow, and Gallus too,” said Caliburn. “Where are they all?”

“Merlin sent them off to deliver that message about the Royal Summit,” said Sonic. “Pinkie and Yona took Manic to Yakyakistan; apparently homeland of those Yak-born Vikings Yona’s one of. Spike and Smolder went to the Dragonlands to get Ember, Starlight and Ocellus went to the Changeling hive to get Thorax, Silverstream took AJ and Knux to Mount Aris to get Queen Novo and Gallus took Rainbow and Shadow to Griffonstone to get their leader. Supposedly, he’s some old geezer everyone calls Grandpa Gruff.”

“Well, either way, everyone get ready for some festivities once we’re home and trade is dealt with,” said Sonic, turning to his human knight there. “Lionel, ride back to Camelot. Tell the other knights and our people that we’ll be holding a great festival in the castle courtyard once all the guests have arrived.”

“As you order, my liege,” said Lionel as he walked to the door. “Oh, and by the by, my daughter Kaylee has always wanted to partake of a genuine Camelot festival.”

“Why not bring her? And Juliana, I haven’t seen them in ages,” said Sonic.

“Thank you, my lord,” said Lionel as he left the castle, saddled up and rode back through the portal to Camelot. It would soon be the dawning of a new age of great commerce and unity between two worlds, long overdue.


	27. The Summit

The next day, Sonic was very pleased to see the others returning to Twilight’s castle with royals from all corners of the world; Ember, Thorax, Novo, Cadence and Armor, and the Royal Sisters had all arrived as had a tall man with a long brown beard and orange hair over his moderate lime-green eyes wearing a large fur coat and heavy Viking battle-crown. However, the GriffonBorn emissary wasn’t exactly what Sonic was expecting; it was a woman with bright amber eyes and white feather-style hair with light heliotrope tips and was wearing a leather coat and brown feather cloak.

“Gilda? What happened to Grandpa Gruff?” asked Twilight.

“Couldn’t make it,” said Gilda. “Told me to sub for him in this… Uh, what’d ya call it, ‘summit’?”

“Meeting of clan leaders, yeah,” said Shadow. “Anyway, is everyone here?”

“Looks like it,” said Sonic. “Anyways, how’s about some introductions? Everyone, this is my mother Queen Aleena of Mobius and one of my closest allies Princess Sally Acorn of the Acorn Archipelago. Mom, Sally; these are the various rulers and messengers of this realm.”

“A pleasure, your majesty,” said Celestia as she and her sister bowed courteously. “We are the Royal Sisters; Princesses Celestia and Luna, the simple magical balance of the sun and moon.”

“Though just for the day, our position has been usurped by Discord; spirit of chaos,” said Luna.

“I’m Cadence, ruler of the Crystal Empire in the northern reaches, as well as basically demigoddess of love,” said the pink princess. “And this is my husband Shining Armor, top-ranking general of Equestria’s military.”

“I’m Dragon-Lord Ember, leader of the DragonBorn out southeast of here,” said the armored empress.

“I’m Thorax, king of the Changeling hive in the western wastes,” said the insect. “And this is Queen Novo of the HippogriffBorn mermaids of Mount Aris in the south.”

“And I Prince Ruthersford, leader of YakBorn Vikings of Yakyakistan in north,” said the Viking.

“Name’s Gilda, messenger from Griffonstone across the Lunar sea,” said Gilda.

“A pleasure to meet you all,” said Aleena as she and Sally bowed. “And of course, I’m sure you’ve been informed of my great son King Sonic Pendragon, the one who’s organized this little meeting.”

“Speaking of which, we, unfortunately, won’t be having our meeting here,” said Sonic. “To ensure trust between our worlds, we’ll be holding the meeting in my castle of Camelot. My soldiers have been notified that you are to be treated as equals and nonthreats at my table. Merlin?” At that command, the wizard snapped his fingers and conjured a bevy of wagons and chariots, every one of them tied to gleaming white horses with gold-blonde manes and tails. Sonic and Twilight simply boarded the first one, which was flying the flag of Camelot; a red background with a gold version of the ever-popular Welsh Dragon. Tails quickly hovered up and took the reigns as Sonic looked back to the other rulers. “All aboard.”

The other rulers boarded their carriages with some of the other knights taking their reigns while the rest, as well as Sally, Aleena and the others (including the students and the CMC), joined Sonic in his magnificent carriage. Once everyone was aboard, the Knights cracked the reigns and rode through the portal along the newly laid cobblestone road all the way up to the castle where Burtalack and Bors were already waiting. “Good day, my king,” said the Green Knight as everyone disembarked. “I trust your journey was pleasant?”

“Naturally, Burtalack,” said Sonic as Merlin dispelled the carriages and horses. “Has everything been prepared?”

“Indeed my lord,” said Bors. “The Chamber of the Round Table is open to you for the summit.”

“Great. Everybody inside,” said Sonic as he led everyone into his great castle to the chamber of the Round Table. “Welcome to Castle Camelot. Please have a seat.” Everyone then sat at the table with Sonic’s knights taking their usual seats and his guests taking others. Then a servant walked in. “Can I get anyone anything? Food, sage water? A flagon of ale?”

“Red wine for myself and my sister, I think,” said Celestia.

“I’ll have a few garnets and the best diamond you’ve got,” said Ember.

“Okay,” said Sonic, looking to the servant. “Red wine for the Royal Sisters and a barrel of sage water for the table. And get Ignatius up here with some garnets and a flawless diamond.”

“By your command, my liege,” said the servant as he left.

“Now then, while the staff is dealing with that, let’s get down to matters of state,” said Sally. “I understand you all rule over your own majority in your world.”

“Yes, and thankfully all of our nations are now at peace,” said Celestia before she glanced over at Ember. “Relatively.”

“Look, I’ve been trying to get Garble and his gang under better control, but my people might as well be _actual_ dragons,” said Ember. “They’re really hard to control.”

“I’d beg to differ,” said a wise voice. Everyone looked and saw an old Mobian dragon with bright gold scales with deep blue eyes in old red robes with a small sack in his left claw and a tree-branch cane in his right.

“Ah, Ignatius. Glad you’re here,” said Sonic. “Everyone, this is Camelot’s royal treasurer Ignatius; ancient gold dragon of the western mountains.”

“That be I,” said Ignatius. “And I believe you asked for these, Lady Ember.”

“Yeah thanks,” said Ember as she opened the bag to find two dozen garnets and a large perfectly cut diamond. Then Palamedes walked in with a bottle of red wine and a few glasses on a tray, placing them between the Royal Sisters and filling their glasses before Galehaut walked in with a large barrel of sage water with a tube and tap attached. He loaded the barrel into a large rig above the table and placed the tap on the edge, allowing Sonic to fill a flagon before retaking his seat.

“Now, back to the matter at hand,” said Sonic. “I can only assume that our worlds will unite their military power if that’s required, and will trade other raw materials and items of commerce between themselves?”

“Naturally,” said Armor. “Just say the word, and the Equestrian army will be at your disposal.”

“And with trade between our worlds, maybe we can figure out how to combine Mobian science with Equestrian magic,” said Twilight.

“If you do manage that, I’d be more than happy to see the results,” said Tails.

“Then we’re agreed?” asked Sonic. Everyone hummed and hawed amongst themselves but eventually, they all gave affirmative remarks. “Huh. This was actually a lot easier than I thought. I mean, I think we have to at least sign something, don’t we?”

“Yeah, like maybe some sort of treaty full of terms and conditions or something like that?” suggested Knuckles. “I’m pretty sure you had to sign one with Burtalack when he joined up.”

“No, you did,” said the knight in question. “So, does anyone have something like that?”

“Already got that set,” said Merlin as he walked over with a large scroll in hand. “‘All listed parties shall be thus united as an interplanetary senate and engaged in peace between their nations including commerce, united military efforts and simplified transit between all nations as if all parties are minor rulers in a single nation’, meaning no passports required to move between nations. All that’s required is that all government representatives sign the document on their respective dotted lines.” Then he placed the treaty on the table in front of Sonic, with Spike providing him with a quill and vial of ink.

“Alright then,” said Sonic, taking up the quill and filling it with ink. “Let’s get this over with and then get to the partying.”

“Wait, there’s a party? And you didn’t tell me?” asked Pinkie in a sort of happy anger as Sonic signed the treaty and passed it down to Celestia.

“Well, it’s kinda spur of the moment,” said Sonic. “In celebration of our finding the Holy Grail. Either way, I must ask that you all stay. A true Camelot festival is not to be missed, especially one like this.”

“Why not? I’m game,” said Celestia.

“As am I,” said Luna. “I only hope Discord can keep his madness to a minimum until we return.”

“Given how he handled himself after Tirek stabbed him in the back, I think he’ll be fine,” said Twilight. Finally, every representative at the table had signed the treaty and agreed to join in the festivities, and if Sonic’s comment earlier was any indication, it was going to be great fun.


	28. The Festival

On the way to the festival, Sonic had to make an announcement and had invited Twilight up to the castle balcony with him while the others headed down to the fairgrounds in the square.

“So what exactly do these festivals entail?” asked Twilight.

“Well, the usual festival stuff really,” said Sonic. “Food and drink, games and events, bard-troupes, a jousting tournament among my more manageably sized knights (meaning that Galehaut’s out on the sidelines every match), and even a theatre performance at the end, courtesy of an ancient civilization who worshiped a pantheon of old gods, most of which actually include mystic relics that many treasure hunters are still after to this day, myself and my order among them.” Then amidst great fanfare, the two strode out onto the balcony and waved to the people of Camelot as they cheered.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Camelot, welcome to our latest festival!” Sonic bellowed politely. “We are honored this day not only by our royal guests from the world of Equestria, but also by the latest and possibly greatest achievement of not only myself and my Knights of the Round Table, but also the Council of Harmony, led by my lovely guest up here; Princess Twilight Sparkle. And now, without further ado, allow me to present our newest reclaimed relic;” Twilight quickly got the idea and teleported the Grail to her hand and levitated it, also showing it on a magical hologram. “The Chalice of Christ better known as the Holy Grail!” The crowd cheered for all they were worth as they saw the Cup of Christ before the hologram dissipated. “Let the festival… begin!”

At that order, the people set to the great revelry of Camelot’s festival. The group was having incredible fun, getting stuffed with great food and drunk on ale. Knuckles was even with Applejack at the archery area showing her how to shoot. Ruthersford eventually left after having been deemed too drunk to continue to participate reasonably, and it almost looked like Rainbow was about to follow his lead as she was having almost too fun with Shadow at the ale barrel when Dinadan rode over on his horse. “Say Shadow, do you remember the tournament a few years ago when you-?”

“Aap-ap-ap-ap-ap! I thought we agreed not to speak of that again, Dinadan!” said Shadow, apparently embarrassed. “What do you even want, you jester in knight’s clothing?”

“Classy,” said Dinadan sarcastically. “Anyway, I’m actually here for Lady Dash.”

“What, why?” asked Shadow.

“Is this about the Crystal Faire?” asked Rainbow with a minor slur in her voice.

“Ah, first prize,” said Dinadan. “Lord Armor told me you had a short-lived jouster’s career in that festival, and I’d like to test your mettle myself. Interested?” Rainbow was just downing another flagon of ale while holding up one finger before she finished it and threw it on the ground.

“WHOO! Ugh. Alright, guy who sounds suspiciously like he might be related to Pinkie Pie, let’s dance!” she said as she stumbled off toward the stables. Dinadan just sat on his horse honestly a bit dumbfounded while Shadow looked between him and Pinkie who was currently engaged in a traditional dance circle.

“Y’know you guys do actually seem alike,” he said. Dinadan just rolled his eyes at his fellow knight.

“You two were made for each other,” he said and rode off to the jousting pitch with Shadow shouting after him. Once he arrived, a short fanfare sounded as the other royals joined Sonic and his siblings in the royal box on the side of the pitch and the crowd to the other stands.

“The jousting tournament shall now begin!” said Sonic, prompting the people to cheer as Dinadan rode onto the field, lance in hand. “Our tournament is started this day by a challenge from Camelot’s own Sir Dinadan the Quick-Witted to our visitor Lady Rainbow Dash of Equestria whom, as I’ve heard from Princess Twilight’s brother Lord Shining Armor, once had a short-lived jousting carrier. Shall we see if her skills have stuck with her?” The crowd cheered in affirmation as Rainbow rode out lance at the ready wearing light blue armor similar to the Greek Hoplites and holding her helmet in hand, though she did have a strange look on her face; one of a woman who just left the bar on a Friday night. “Uh, what’s the story here?”

“Well, according to Dinadan, we’re made for each other,” growled Shadow.

“Hm. Y’know, I think I can see his logic,” said Twilight, glancing between the two. “I mean you’re both adrenaline junkies, right?”

“Yeah, but apparently unlike her, I know the definition of the word ‘moderation’ when I’m drinking,” said Shadow.

“Eh. Well hey, if you ever _do_ get together, you could probably be the one who manages to keep her in check in those sorts of matters,” said Sonic.

“Shut up!” he said and take his seat next to the box with the other knights.

“Oh, speaking of check Twilight, do you know how to play chess?” asked Sonic.

“Of course she does,” said Cadence. “She’s beaten me more times than I can even count.”

“Either way, let’s get this jousting tournament underway, shall we?” asked Armor.

“By your order, my lord,” said Sonic as he turned back to the field. “Knights, touch lances and take opposite sides of the field.” The two rode up to each other and knocked their lances together.

“Ride fast and hit hard, I’ll meet you in the middle,” said Rainbow as she donned her helmet before she let out a rather large belch. “Scuse me.”

“Trust me when I say this, my lady,” said Dinadan, flipping up his visor. “Once we actually do meet on this field, you’re going to wish you were in hell with your back broken.” Rainbow just stood there frozen for a second.

“I honestly have no response to that,” she said.

“They never do,” said Dinadan intimidatingly. But then he just started chuckling as he slapped down his visor and rode to the other end of the field. “Alright, let’s go to war!” he bellowed.

“My knights, joust bravely, joust fiercely, but most importantly, give the people what they want!” said Sonic, before looking down at Rainbow. “Ready?” She nodded with a tough look in her face so he turned to Dinadan. “Ready?” He also nodded and readied his lance. “Charge!”

“Charge on!” called Dinadan as the two warriors charged each other and bashed lances on shields, though neither fell from their saddles and ran around for another pass. This repeated once until at last, Rainbow got in a good hit at his chestplate and knocked Dinadan straight off his horse, starting a great commotion from the crowd first in surprise but then in massive applause.

“Ugh. Well done, my lady,” said Dinadan as he pulled himself from the ground. “A more brilliant battle I don’t think I’ve ever taken part in. Well, perhaps apart from a few years ago.”

“Wait, what happened a few years ago?” asked Applejack confused.

“Ohohoho, you’re gonna wanna sit down for this, because it is hilarious,” chuckled Knuckles. And thus they told their guests about how after Dinadan poked fun at Galehaut, comparing him to a wolf by daring him to eat a massive trout (“Yeah, you probably had to be there for the joke to actually be funny,” said the half-giant at that part), Shadow took it the absolute wrong way and in their battle, dressed himself up (somehow painfully convincingly) as a woman before unhorsing Dinadan on foot, stuffing him in a dress and parading him around the banquet hall. Needless to say, the guests were in stitches practically instantly when they heard that gem particularly Pinkie Pie, who very nearly laughed her hindquarters off. Several more jousts came and went that evening before it was time for the theater performance Sonic had mentioned earlier.

The group made their way to the large amphitheater and when Sonic glanced up at the board to see what was showing, he was happy by the text he saw. “Ah. A classic,” he said, causing Twilight to look at the text to see it read “ _The Epic of Jason and the Argonauts_ ”.

“Well, I have to say it sure sounds incredible,” said Twilight.

“Oh trust me, it is,” said Sonic. “I’ve read this legend a few times myself, trying to find what it was the Argonauts were after.”

“Wait, what?” asked Twilight.

“Hm? Oh right, probably should’ve told you this sooner,” said Sonic. “See, myself and my order? We aren’t just soldiers and protectors of the peace. We’re also treasure hunters, specializing in ancient relics of civilizations past, most of which supposedly hold great power. Our Sacred Swords and the Grail are some of our more famous… acquisitions, I guess you could call them. Still working on the others, but once we get them, I have no doubt in my mind that our army will be unstoppable, and should the prophesy come to fruition in full, we’ll win no strings attached.”

“Why, what’s the endin’ to the prophecy?” asked Applejack.

“I’m supposed to fight Scourge and Mordred after they conquer Camelot from under me,” said Sonic. “Once we fight, they’ll both die and I’ll hopefully just be mortally wounded, resulting in my healing on the Isle of Avalon and continued rule afterward. Either that or I die somewhere between the battlefield and Avalon itself, but that whole thing isn’t supposed to happen until after I get married. Still not sure who to though. Anyway, enough with the future and let’s get back to the ancient past. Shall we?” Then he felt something in his quills; something terrifyingly familiar. “Preferably now? Or maybe five minutes ago?”

“Wait what, why?” asked Twilight.

“Oh jeez,” said Knuckles, remembering what usually followed him saying that sort of thing. “It’s her, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” said Sonic.

“Wait, her who?” asked Celestia. Sonic simply looked to the horizon and saw a painfully similar pink speck in the distance closing in ridiculously fast.

“Amy,” he said simply just as his pink fangirl came into view, wearing a tighter-fitting version of her usual red dress and boots. “Hide me!” Too late, as Amy had already bulldozed him in a massive hug, allowing the others to hear his bones break in her grip, prompting a shared wince from all of them.

“Oh Sonic, I’m so glad you’re back my king!” she said. “I’ve missed you so much, and you _totally_ owe me a date.”

“Which I would be happy to make up to you, if not for a couple things,” said Sonic who was, at the moment, experiencing indescribable pain. “A; for like the jillionth time, I’m not interested in you. B; I’m pretty sure you just stabbed one of my now _re_ -broken ribs into my lung. And C; I’ve got visiting royal guests to entertain at the theater, one of which I’m already dating.”

“WHAT?!?!?” asked Amy angrily as she shot up off him, allowing Silver to realign his bones and fix his lung while she looked at Celestia. “Who is it, her?!”

“Wha- No! I mean, no offense Celestia, you’re gorgeous but _way_ too old for me, even if you don’t look it,” said Sonic.

“None taken Sonic, I fully understand,” said Celestia.

“Well who then, her?” asked Amy, pointing at Luna.

“Nope, last one’s sister,” said Sonic, prompting Amy to point at Cadence. “Already married.” Ember. “Basically a dragon.” Novo. “Mermaid.” Skystar. “Last one’s daughter.” Smolder. “Oh for- Her and the other girls with her are _schoolgirls_ , Amy. Jesus, a guy’s gotta have standards, especially when he’s a king.”

“Oh ew gross sorry,” said Amy, before pointing at Starlight. “Well okay, but how about her?”

“Painfully close, but no,” said Sonic, before she pointed at Applejack. “Nope.” Rainbow. “You’d think, right?”

“Seriously, we’re basically the same person,” said Rainbow.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” said Sonic as Amy started to point to Pinkie but then decided to move on to Rarity. “Smart move, but still cold.” Fluttershy. “Uh-uh.” Twilight. “Bingo.”

“Oh okay, so now can you explain to me why you’re with _her_ when we’re fated to be together by prophecy?!” asked Amy.

“Wait what?” asked Twilight.

“Oh for- For the last time Amy, I know you just made up that part to throw me for a loop,” said Sonic. “I mean for God’s sake, you drew it in with a marker. _A frickin’ marker_! And you didn’t even get the Old English even close to right!”

“Well, I don’t know how to read it, what did you expect?!” said Amy before she caught herself. “I mean, what?”

“Okay, that does it. Look, Amy, you wanna know what she has that you don’t, aside from control over her own strength?” asked Sonic.

“Yeah. Yeah, I actually would,” said Amy growing steadily angry.

“This,” said Sonic, indicating to Twilight who just stood there and did nothing. “Uh, Twilight? We were… On the flourish-”

“O-Oh, sorry Sonic,” said Twilight as she thus spread her magic wings, flew up a few inches and levitated Burtalack’s ax out of his hands to float around her.

“Whoa,” said Amy.

“Yeah that, plus she’s the star student of her,” said Sonic, pointing at Celestia. “Whose day-to-day obligations include, aside from the usual royal shtick, literally raising and lowering the sun. Also, Twilight and her friends here have saved their world more times than I dare even ask. Although seriously how many times was it?”

“Well let me see,” said Rarity, remembering. “There was Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Changelings, King Sombra, Discord _again_ , one of Twilight’s accidents-”

“Okay, I get it,” said Amy, honestly starting to get a bit intimidated and/or annoyed.

“Please don’t interrupt, darling, I’m only part-way through the list,” said Rarity. “Now where was I? Ah yes. Uh, Discord’s plunder-vines, Tirek, Starlight, Cadence’s superpowered daughter who very nearly reduced her northern kingdom to a frozen wasteland, Stygian, the Storm King, oh and of course the representative from the Equestria Education Association who very nearly started an all-out war between all of our separate nations. I believe that about covers everything.”

“Yeah, I think you made your point like six near-apocalypses ago,” said Tails.

“Besides, you forgot to mention Sunset and the Sirens,” said Twilight, landing and giving Burtalack back his ax. “Speaking of whom, I haven’t heard from Sunset in ages.”

“Oh yes of course, sorry darling,” said Rarity.

“No Tails is right, you made your point ages ago,” said Amy, suddenly letting tears come to her eyes. “Well, Sonic… I suppose if this is what you want…”

“Oh for the love of every god I know of, stop,” said Sonic, facepalming.

“Wha-? Sonic!” said Twilight.

“What, Twilight? She’s faking it, can’t you tell? Guys, back me up on this,” said Sonic, prompting his knights to all give affirmative remarks. “See? So seriously Amy, don’t make a bigger ass of yourself than you already have.”

“I- Wait… What?” she asked, instantly growing angry.

“Ugh. Merlin, if you would?” asked Sonic.

“As you order, my liege,” said the wizard, surrounding Amy in a field of magic that not only left her anchored to the ground, but also muffled her voice down to silence.

“Well that took almost too long, so let’s get in here before we miss the play,” said Sonic. “Cmon, you guys are gonna love it.” And thus they left Amy to rage in her dome of silence, while Sonic quietly smirked that eventually, he wouldn’t have to worry about her much longer.


End file.
